WATCH: On this day in 1939, the Yankees announced that Lou Gehrig would retire. A few weeks later, he gave his famous farewell speech, declaring that "I may have had a tough break, but I have an awful lot to live for." | NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas

Lou Gehrig said goodbye to baseball before a sold-out crowd at Yankee Stadium on July 4, 1939. Sometimes called “baseball’s Gettysburg Address,” his farewell speech remains a moving testament of graciousness and gratitude in the face of tragedy. He died two years later, on June 2, 1941, at the age of 37. | American Experience | PBS