October 24, 1901: Annie Edson Taylor celebrates her 63rd birthday, with a stunt: Going over Niagara Falls in a barrel.
Annie was born on October 24, 1838, in Auburn, New York, 137 miles east of Niagara Falls. During her teaching studies, she met David Taylor. They were married, and had a son who died in infancy. Her husband died soon after. After she was widowed, she spent her working years in between jobs and locales.
Eventually, she ended up in Bay City, Michigan, where she hoped to be a dance instructor. Since there were no dance schools in Bay City at that time, Taylor opened her own. She moved around a bit, failing in various businesses.
By 1900, she had fallen upon hard times. She claimed to be only 42 years old at the time, suggesting that she could make money more easily if she were younger. Having always associated with "the best class of people, the cultured and the refined," Taylor believed that she needed money to hold her place in the world. In the 1900 U.S. Census, she declared her year of birth as 1860, and got away with it.
Hoping to secure her later years financially, she decided she would be the first person to ride over Niagara Falls in a barrel. Niagara Falls -- both the city on the New York side and the city on the Ontario side -- had already become a tourist attraction, with the falls leading to the area becoming known as "The Honeymoon Capital of the World."
Taylor used a custom-made barrel for her trip, constructed of oak and iron and padded with a mattress. Several delays occurred in the launching of the barrel, particularly because no one wanted to be part of a potential suicide. Two days before Taylor's own attempt, a domestic cat was sent over the Horseshoe Falls in her barrel, to test its strength to see if the barrel would break or not. Contrary to rumors at the time, the cat survived the plunge, and, 17 minutes later, after she was found with a bleeding head, posed with Taylor in photographs.
On October 24, 1901, the barrel was put over the side of a rowboat, and Taylor climbed in, along with her lucky heart-shaped pillow. After screwing down the lid, friends used a bicycle tire pump to compress the air in the barrel. The hole used for this was plugged with a cork, and Taylor was set adrift near the American shore, south of Goat Island.
The river currents carried the barrel over the Canadian Horseshoe Falls, which has since been the site for all successful daredevil stunting at Niagara Falls. Rescuers reached her barrel shortly after the plunge. Taylor was discovered to be alive and relatively uninjured, except for a small gash on her head. The trip itself took less than 20 minutes, but it was some time before the barrel was actually opened. Taylor was helped out of the barrel by Carlisle Graham, a friend of hers, who had been the 1st man to run the rapids on a raft.
After the journey, Taylor told the press, "If it was with my dying breath, I would caution anyone against attempting the feat... I would sooner walk up to the mouth of a cannon, knowing it was going to blow me to pieces than make another trip over the Fall."
She briefly earned money speaking about her experience, but was never able to build much wealth. She wrote a memoir, and returned to Niagara Falls to sell it. Her manager, Frank M. Russell, ran away with her barrel, and most of her savings were used towards private detectives hired to find it. It was eventually located in Chicago, only to permanently disappear some time later.
She spent her final years posing for photographs with tourists at her souvenir stand, attempting to earn money from the New York Stock Exchange, briefly talking about taking a second plunge over the cataracts in 1906, attempting to write a novel, re-constructing her 1901 plunge on film (which was never seen), working as a clairvoyant, and providing magnetic therapeutic treatments to local residents.
She died on April 29, 1921, aged 82, in Lockport, New York, near Niagara Falls, and was interred next to Graham, in the "Stunter's Rest" section of Oakwood Cemetery in Niagara Falls, New York.
Others who have attempted stunts in purposely going over Niagara Falls:
* Bobby Leach, 1911, a former circus performer, in a metal barrel, survived with both kneecaps and his jaw broken.
* Charles Stephens, 1920, an Englishman, in a metal barrel, died in the attempt.
* Jean Lussier, 1928, a Canadian, in a ball with a spring frame, survived unharmed.
* George Stathakis, 1930, a Greek, in a metal barrel, landed without injury, but was stuck behind a curtain of water, and suffocated before he could be recovered.
* Red Hill Jr., 1951, son of a famed Niagara Falls lifesaver, in a craft he called "The Thing," which broke up on impact, killing him.
* Nathan Boya, 1961, the 1st African-American to attempt it, in a metal ball he helped design called the "Plunge-O-Sphere," surviving without injury.
* Karel Soucek, 1984, a Czech, in a barrel, surviving, his only injury coming when his wrist bounced up on impact, causing his watch to cut his face.
* David Munday, 1985, an American, doing it again in 1993, making him the 1st person man to succeed twice.
* Steve Trotter, an American, in a barrel, also did it twice, in 1985 and 1995, the 2nd time with Lori Martin, who also survived.
* Peter De Bernardi and Jeffery Petkovich, in 1989, in a reinforced barrel, the 1st 2-person attempt, both survived.
* Jessie Sharp, 1990, made the attempt in a plastic kayak, which was found, but his body never was.
* Robert Overacker, 1995, tried it on a jet ski, but his parachute failed to open, and he was killed.
In addition, 4 men are known to have survived suicide attempts from jumping over the falls. Three of them -- in 2009, 2012 and 2019 -- survived, and so their names were not released. The 1st of them, Kirk Jones in 2003, survived, making him the 1st person to survive any kind of fall over the falls without aid. But he tried again in 2017, and succeeded.
* Jean Lussier, 1928, a Canadian, in a ball with a spring frame, survived unharmed.
* George Stathakis, 1930, a Greek, in a metal barrel, landed without injury, but was stuck behind a curtain of water, and suffocated before he could be recovered.
* Red Hill Jr., 1951, son of a famed Niagara Falls lifesaver, in a craft he called "The Thing," which broke up on impact, killing him.
* Nathan Boya, 1961, the 1st African-American to attempt it, in a metal ball he helped design called the "Plunge-O-Sphere," surviving without injury.
* Karel Soucek, 1984, a Czech, in a barrel, surviving, his only injury coming when his wrist bounced up on impact, causing his watch to cut his face.
* David Munday, 1985, an American, doing it again in 1993, making him the 1st person man to succeed twice.
* Steve Trotter, an American, in a barrel, also did it twice, in 1985 and 1995, the 2nd time with Lori Martin, who also survived.
* Peter De Bernardi and Jeffery Petkovich, in 1989, in a reinforced barrel, the 1st 2-person attempt, both survived.
* Jessie Sharp, 1990, made the attempt in a plastic kayak, which was found, but his body never was.
* Robert Overacker, 1995, tried it on a jet ski, but his parachute failed to open, and he was killed.
In addition, 4 men are known to have survived suicide attempts from jumping over the falls. Three of them -- in 2009, 2012 and 2019 -- survived, and so their names were not released. The 1st of them, Kirk Jones in 2003, survived, making him the 1st person to survive any kind of fall over the falls without aid. But he tried again in 2017, and succeeded.
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October 24, 1901 was a Thursday. Baseball season was over. Football was in midweek. Basketball barely existed. And hockey had not yet turned professional. So there were no scores on this historic day.
