Falls, facts & figures

Formed 12,000 years ago by the Wisconsin Glacier, the Niagara Falls take their name from the indian "onguiaahra" meaning "a thundering noise". Height and water flow combine to make Niagara Falls so unique. One record that Niagara does hold is for electrical generation; more power is generated from its rushing waters than in any other place in the world. The Horseshoe Falls are 180 feet high and discharge 6 million cubic feet of water every minute(that is about a million bathtubs full of water every minute!) Over the years the Falls have attracted lots of crazy folks, starting with Blondin, a funambulist who performed numerous crossings during the mid 1800s, sometimes blindfolded, at others carrying a stove and fixing an omelet, or even carrying on his back his 148-pound manager. In 1901, Annie Taylor, a Michigan school teacher was the first person to travel over the Falls in a barrel. She emulated other stunt artists who challenged the cataracts in home-made barrel contraptions; while many made it alive, quite a few didn’t. More recently, a couple of individuals attempted to survive a plunge over Niagara Falls in a kayak and a jetski; both perished. One reported happy ending took place in 1960, when a boy, Roger Woodward, survived a descent over the Falls after a boating accident upstream. So if you plan any boating on top of the falls, watch out!