October 24:

1901 : First barrel ride down Niagara Falls

On this day in 1901, a 63-year-old schoolteacher named Annie Edson
Taylor becomes the first person to take the plunge over Niagara Falls
in a barrel.

After her husband died in the Civil War, the New York-born Taylor
moved all over the U. S. before settling in Bay City, Michigan, around
1898. In July 1901, while reading an article about the Pan-American
Exposition in Buffalo, she learned of the growing popularity of two
enormous waterfalls located on the border of upstate New York and
Canada. Strapped for cash and seeking fame, Taylor came up with the
perfect attention-getting stunt: She would go over Niagara Falls in a
barrel.

Taylor was not the first person to attempt the plunge over the famous
falls. In October 1829, Sam Patch, known as the Yankee Leaper,
survived jumping down the 175-foot Horseshoe Falls of the Niagara
River, on the Canadian side of the border. More than 70 years later,
Taylor chose to take the ride on her birthday, October 24. (She
claimed she was in her 40s, but genealogical records later showed she
was 63.) With the help of two assistants, Taylor strapped herself into
a leather harness inside an old wooden pickle barrel five feet high
and three feet in diameter. With cushions lining the barrel to break
her fall, Taylor was towed by a small boat into the middle of the
fast-flowing Niagara River and cut loose.

Knocked violently from side to side by the rapids and then propelled
over the edge of Horseshoe Falls, Taylor reached the shore alive, if a
bit battered, around 20 minutes after her journey began. After a brief
flurry of photo-ops and speaking engagements, Taylor's fame cooled,
and she was unable to make the fortune for which she had hoped. She
did, however, inspire a number of copy-cat daredevils. Between 1901
and 1995, 15 people went over the falls; 10 of them survived. Among
those who died were Jesse Sharp, who took the plunge in a kayak in
1990, and Robert Overcracker, who used a jet ski in 1995. No matter
the method, going over Niagara Falls is illegal, and survivors face
charges and stiff fines on either side of the border.

history.com/tdih.do


1648 : Thirty Years War ends
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5463

1945 : U.N. formally established
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5465

1969 : Burton buys Liz a diamond
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=7060

2003 : The Concorde makes its final flight
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5466

#########################################