Post by cleglaw on Mar 13, 2009 11:22:52 GMT
Annie Taylor
On 24 October 1901 Annie Edison Taylor, a 63-year-old retired schoolteacher, celebrated her birthday by climbing into a barrel with her pet cat and tumbling over Niagara Falls. She was the first of many people do so. Happily, she survived the adventure, unlike several of the men who followed her in subsequent years.
The modified airtight pickle barrel contained safety straps and an anvil to provide ballast, and was pressurised using a bicycle pump. She was recovered from her barrel just 17 minutes later and suffered only minor concussion and slight cuts to the head. However, her belief that the feat would make her rich proved unfounded and she died penniless 20 years later.
On 24 October 1901 Annie Edison Taylor, a 63-year-old retired schoolteacher, celebrated her birthday by climbing into a barrel with her pet cat and tumbling over Niagara Falls. She was the first of many people do so. Happily, she survived the adventure, unlike several of the men who followed her in subsequent years.
The modified airtight pickle barrel contained safety straps and an anvil to provide ballast, and was pressurised using a bicycle pump. She was recovered from her barrel just 17 minutes later and suffered only minor concussion and slight cuts to the head. However, her belief that the feat would make her rich proved unfounded and she died penniless 20 years later.
Wednesday March 11, 2009 A man has survived one of the most dangerous journeys in all of Ontario - a plunge over Niagara Falls.
It happened Wednesday afternoon after a tourist spotted someone deliberately climbing over the barriers on the Canadian Horseshoe Falls, then jumping into the swirling waters below. He called police but it was too late - the man was already in the frigid water.
The current carried the man towards the raging water and he went over the Falls, dropping at least 60 metres as the roaring natural wonder swallowed him up.
He emerged on the other side in the Niagara River, about 300 metres away from a nearby power plant. And incredibly, he was still alive to tell the tale.
But it appears that wasn't his plan. Cops in Niagara region are now saying they believe the U.S. man was attempting to end his life.
When he refused to comply with police orders to swim to shore, a helicopter was dispatched to retrieve him.
When he ignored their rescue efforts, officials cleverly positioned the chopper over him and used the blades to create a current that pushed him to shore against his will. He was grabbed from the water by fire department rescuers and taken away to hospital .
Equally unbelievable is that the pilot was able to successfully make the necessary maneuvers despite the high winds, which had been gusting at times to 90 kilometres an hour in the area.
The man is between 35 and 40, and was suffering from a large wound to his forehead and severe hypothermia when he was pulled from the icy depths. He was fully clothed when he went in, but came out naked after his rescue, likely because his garb was pulled off by the force of the currents.
He becomes one of only about 17 people to ever go over Niagara Falls and survive.
Most of the others went in a barrel or some kind of flotation or protective device. Only three have ever been known to make the trip with almost no protection and survive - although in this case, it appears the victim wasn't planning on that outcome.
click for pics and more history
