Prof. Mark Bain, natural resources, died on Wednesday at the age of 56. He had taught systems ecology, the study of biodiversity, at Cornell for 22 years.

There are a handful of giants in the history of baseball.

One was called "The Iron Horse," holding the consecutive-games-played record for 56 years, distinguishing himself as a supremely talented first basemen and being such a powerful and consistent hitter that he stood out in the lineup called “Murderer’s Row.”

Lou Gehrig, fourth in that famous Yankees lineup and No. 4 in the minds of baseball fans for all time, retired July 4, 1939 — giving arguably one of the most famous speeches in American history on that sad day in Yankee Stadium when a disease crippled him without warning or explanation. He was dead two years later, brought down by the terminal disease that now bears his name.