A new iron man was born on this date in 1995. Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. broke fellow Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig's long-standing record by playing in his 2,131st consecutive game on this date 19 years ago.

Here's video of the on-field ceremony:

Naturally, Ripken hit a home run in that record breaking game.

Ripken did not just break Gehrig's record either. He smashed it. Ripken voluntarily and surprisingly -- there was no prior announcement, it happened spontaneously -- ended his streak at 2,632 (!) games more than three years after breaking the record.

Here is the end of the streak:

Ripken's streak lasted from May 30, 1982 until September 20, 1998. There were 16-year-old Orioles fans who had never seen their team play a game without Cal Ripken Jr. in the lineup when the streak ended. Ridiculous.

Of all of baseball's "unbreakable" records, Ripken's just might be the most unbreakable. There are so many freakish things that can happen to cause a player to miss a game -- minor injuries, even a family matter, etc. -- that playing every single game for more than 16 years seems impossible to me. It is truly mindblowing.

By the way, the longest active consecutive games played streak currently belongs to Hunter Pence at a mere 311 games. Prince Fielder's streak of 547 consecutive games played ended earlier this season due to his neck injury.