History: July 4 (#1)

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July 4, 1939 Lou Gehrig, recently diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, informs a crowd at Yankee Stadium that he considers himself "The luckiest man on the face of the earth", then announces his retirement from major league baseball.

Commentary

On July 4, in the year 1939: Lou Gehrig, recently diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, informs a crowd at Yankee Stadium that he considers himself "The luckiest man on the face of the earth", then announces his retirement from major league baseball. Amyotrophic lateral scle rosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a rare terminal neurodegenerative disease defined by the progressive loss of both upper and lower motor neurons that normally control voluntary muscle contraction. Why July 4, 1939 matters: Lou Gehrig, recently diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, informs a crowd at Yankee Stadium that he considers himself "The luckiest man on the face of the earth", then announces his retirement from major league baseball. What began on this day left a lasting mark on history. The effects were felt immediately and continued to shape events, ideas, and lives long afterwards. Historical context: July 4, 1939 The 20th century brought rapid advances in health, communication, science, and technology that reshaped everyday human experience. The event on this day: Lou Gehrig, recently diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, informs a crowd at Yankee Stadium that he considers himself "The luckiest man on the face of the earth", then announces his retirement from major league baseball. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ALS (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Sources: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)