Gorgeous Niagara Falls

Annie Taylor holds the distinction of being the first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel. When she made her trip she said she was 43 years of age, however genealogical records confirm she was actually 63 years old.

This Bay City, Michigan school teacher was strapped by her assistants into a special harness in a wooden barrel. Several newspaper people were on hand as a small boat towed the barrel out into the mainstream of the Niagara River and was cut loose.

Slammed by the rapids first one way, then another, Mrs Taylor was sure she hit the rocks. Yet just 17 minutes after the plunge, her barrel drifted close enough to the Canadian Shore to be hooked and dragged onto the rocks. Dazed but triumphant, the first person to conquer the mighty Falls of Niagara found the fame she sought so desperately.

Unfortunately, 20 years after her brush with death, she died destitute in Niagara Falls, New York. On emerging from her barrel after plunging over Niagara Falls on October 24, 1901 Annie Taylor said "No one ought ever do that again."

(Taken from an iPhone non-the-less!)