How an American old woman conquered Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls is an amazing sight. It consists of American Falls (Horseshoe), Veil Falls and Canadian Falls. With its beauty and power, Niagara Falls has attracted tourists for centuries. Starting from the 1820s, sightseers, artists, defenders of environment and newlyweds, and also daredevils.
Annie Edson Taylor
The first person to swim across the falls 63-year-old Annie Taylor crossed Niagara Falls in a barrel on her birthday October 24, 1901. The only thing that separated Annie from the roaring waterfall was the barrel, the compressed air and her lucky pillow. After 17 minutes, the barrel was caught and opened. Edson Taylor received only a minor head wound. Taylor told journalists: Until my last breath, I will dissuade others from such a feat ... She died in poverty in 1921.
Bobby Leach
The first man to cross the falls was Bobby Leach, an Englishman who worked for the Barnum and Bailey Circus. He wanted to perform three tricks: go through a whirlpool in a barrel, parachute down from suspension bridge and cross Niagara Falls. On July 25, 1911, Leach swam across the Horseshoe Falls in a steel box. It took 22 minutes to bring him back to life. The man's kneecaps and jaw were broken. He also tried to overcome Niagara by swimming, but failed. Died of gangrene in 1926.
Charles Stevens
The first person to die trying to cross the falls The Bristol Devil Barber was a famous daredevil in England who refused to check his oak barrel, even after Bobby Leach himself advised him to do so. On July 11, 1920, Stevens pulled off his dangerous stunt. He tied his hands to the walls of the barrel, and his feet to the anvil. Charles was carried out of his barrel when this same anvil broke through the wall. All that's left is his right hand tattooed Forget me not, Annie.
George A. Statakis
The Second Man to Die in the Falls Originally from Greece, George Statakis hoped that the fame of jumping into the falls would help him publish articles on metaphysics and religious mysticism. George built a strong barrel weighing 907 kg from steel and wood. On July 5, 1930, Statakis and his barrel survived a perilous jump. Unfortunately, for the first time in the history of Niagara Falls, the barrel with Statakis inside fell behind a curtain of water. The poor man suffocated, but the 150-year-old turtle, which he took with him for good luck, survived.
Red Hill Jr.
Hill, third on the list of the dead, helped his father fish people out of the river and the waterfall. Red, like his father, crossed the rapids of waterfalls, but so far he could not achieve fame in this field. It has now been 21 years since the death of George Stutakis, and no one else has attempted to cross the roaring monster. With modest funds, Hill constructed the Thing from 13 pipes nested one inside the other, laid with a net and fastened with a canvas. On August 5, 1951, Hill made an attempt to cross the Horseshoe Falls. Before the eyes of his mother, wife and daughter, the Thing surfaced piece by piece, but without its creator. The next day, his battered body was found. The death of Red Hill Jr. led to the creation of a law to ban tricks in Niagara Falls.
Nathan Boya
First African American A decade later, Nathan Boya repeated Red Hill's attempt. Boya first made sure that there was enough air in his rubber balloon for 30 hours. On July 15, 1961, he began his perilous journey, and the current carried the ball almost to the American Falls. Boya was fined $100 for the illegal jump.
Karel Sousek
The first non-American, Karel Sousek, originally from Czechoslovakia and living in Canada, made his jump 23 years after the last successful trick of desperate daredevils. Sausek called himself the last of the Niagara daredevils and spent a year planning and promoting his trip. On July 2, 1984, Karel's assistants threw his red barrel into the river from the Canadian coast. This lightweight plastic vessel was designed to float feet first. Saucek spent 45 minutes in the water and suffered only minor bruises. He was fined $500 and the barrel confiscated.
John Monday
First to Jump into the Falls Twice John Munday became the ninth person to jump into Niagara Falls. He did it in his gray-red aluminum barrel on October 5, 1985. He filmed his jump on video, was fined $1,500 for an illegal stunt. The second attempt took place on August 26, 1993. Munday lost consciousness and was rescued by fishermen.
Jeffrey Petkovic and Peter DeBernardi
The first couple of people Jeffrey and Peter became the first couple to jump into the waterfall. Their yellow steel and plexiglass barrel was launched on September 28, 1989. They survived and were fined $20,000 for their daring jump.
Jesse Sharp
The fourth victim, Jesse Sharp, handled the kayak well. He wanted to be the first person to swim across the Horseshoe Falls in a kayak. Jesse refused a helmet or a life jacket. He was known for his risky stunts, and his parents often alerted the police ahead of time. This time, Sharpe took his friends with him to film the jump. June 5, 1990 by Jesse Sharpe last time seen on the edge of the Horseshoe Falls. The kayak was found after a while, but his body was not.
(1838-10-24 ) , Auburn, New York, USA - April 29, Lockport, New York, USA) is an American adventurer. On October 24, 1901, on her 63rd birthday, she was the first in the world to cross the Niagara Falls in a wooden barrel.
background
Annie's father, Samuel Edson, owned a mill. He passed away when Annie was 12; however, the money he had accumulated was enough to provide the family with a comfortable existence. Annie became a school teacher, completing a four-year course with honors. During her studies, she met David Taylor, whom she later married. Their only son died in infancy. Taylor himself died during the Civil War. Having been widowed, Annie Taylor changed jobs and places of residence many times, ending up in Bay City, Michigan.
Niagara Falls
Wanting to strengthen her financial position, Taylor decided to become the first person to go down the Niagara Falls in a barrel. She used a barrel original design, made of oak and iron parts, with a mattress inside. The event was postponed several times, not least because no one agreed to facilitate a potential suicide. Two days before the final date, the strength test of the barrel was carried out. The cat was placed inside. Contrary to rumors circulating at the time, the animal survived without a scratch and later posed for photographers with its owner.
On October 24, 1901, her 63rd birthday, Annie Taylor climbed into a barrel mounted on a boat; She took with her a talisman - a pillow in the shape of a heart. Annie's friends screwed on the lid and pumped air into the barrel with a bicycle pump; the hole for the hose is then tightly plugged. The barrel was launched off the American coast, south of Goat Island. The Niagara Current carried it to the Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side (since then, most of the stunt films have been filmed in this part of the falls).
Rescuers fished out the barrel shortly after splashdown. Annie Taylor escaped with a small head wound. The whole journey, including the fall, took no more than 20 minutes, but a lot of time passed before the barrel could be opened. Taylor told reporters:
last years of life
Annie was able to earn some money by talking about her adventure, but did not amass a serious fortune. Its manager, Frank Russell, fled with the famous barrel. Almost all of Annie's earnings were spent on private detectives. They tracked down Russell in Chicago, but from there he was able to escape, now forever.
IN last years In her lifetime, Annie Taylor took pictures with tourists, sold souvenirs, tried to play the stock market, started writing a novel, talked about the possibility of a second jump into the waterfall, organized the shooting of a film about the first jump in 1901 (the tape never came out), declared herself a fortune teller and treated her neighbors with a certain "Magnetic-therapeutic method".
Death
Annie Taylor died on April 29, 1921 at the age of 82, in Lockport, New York. She was buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Niagara Falls, at the Stunt Lot.
Annie Taylor with her barrel.
Niagara Falls
Annie Taylor with a barrel and a cat.
Wanting to strengthen her financial position, Taylor decided to become the first person to go down Niagara Falls in a barrel. She used a barrel of the original design, made of oak and iron parts, with a mattress inside. The event was postponed several times, not least because no one agreed to facilitate a potential suicide. Two days before the final date, the strength test of the barrel was carried out. The cat was placed inside. Contrary to rumors circulating at the time, the animal survived without a scratch and later posed for photographers with its owner.
On October 24, 1901, her 63rd birthday, Annie Taylor climbed into a barrel mounted on a boat; She took with her a talisman - a pillow in the shape of a heart. Annie's friends screwed on the lid and pumped air into the barrel with a bicycle pump; the hole for the hose is then tightly plugged. The barrel was launched off the American coast, south of Goat Island. The Niagara Current carried it to the Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side (since then, most of the stunt films have been filmed in this part of the falls).
Rescuers fished out the barrel shortly after splashdown. Annie Taylor escaped with a small head wound. The whole journey, including the fall, took no more than 20 minutes, but a lot of time passed before the barrel could be opened. Taylor told reporters:
last years of life
Annie was able to earn some money by talking about her adventure, but did not amass a serious fortune. Its manager, Frank Russell, fled with the famous barrel. Almost all of Annie's earnings were spent on private detectives. They tracked down Russell in Chicago, but from there he was able to escape, now forever.
In the last years of her life, Annie Taylor took pictures with tourists, sold souvenirs, tried to play the stock market, began to write a novel, talked about the possibility of a second jump into the waterfall, organized the filming of the first jump in 1901 (the tape never came out), declared herself a fortune teller and treated the neighbors with a kind of "magnetic therapeutic method."
, USA - April 29, Lockport, New York, USA) is an American adventurer. On October 24, 1901, on her 63rd birthday, she was the first in the world to cross Niagara Falls in a wooden barrel.
background
Annie's father, Samuel Edson, owned a mill. He passed away when Annie was 12; however, the money he had accumulated was enough to provide the family with a comfortable existence. Annie became a school teacher, completing a four-year course with honors. During her studies, she met David Taylor, whom she later married. Their only son died in infancy. Taylor himself died during the Civil War. Having been widowed, Annie Taylor changed jobs and places of residence many times, ending up in Bay City, Michigan.
Niagara Falls
Wanting to strengthen her financial position, Taylor decided to become the first person to go down Niagara Falls in a barrel. She used a barrel of the original design, made of oak and iron parts, with a mattress inside. The event was postponed several times, not least because no one agreed to facilitate a potential suicide. Two days before the final date, the strength test of the barrel was carried out. The cat was placed inside. Contrary to rumors circulating at the time, the animal survived without a scratch and later posed for photographers with its owner.
On October 24, 1901, her 63rd birthday, Annie Taylor climbed into a barrel mounted on a boat; She took with her a talisman - a pillow in the shape of a heart. Annie's friends screwed on the lid and pumped air into the barrel with a bicycle pump; the hole for the hose is then tightly plugged. The barrel was launched off the American coast, south of Goat Island. The Niagara Current carried it to the Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side (since then, most of the stunt films have been filmed in this part of the falls).
Rescuers fished out the barrel shortly after splashdown. Annie Taylor escaped with a small head wound. The whole journey, including the fall, took no more than 20 minutes, but a lot of time passed before the barrel could be opened. Taylor told reporters:
last years of life
Annie was able to earn some money by talking about her adventure, but did not amass a serious fortune. Its manager, Frank Russell, fled with the famous barrel. Almost all of Annie's earnings were spent on private detectives. They tracked down Russell in Chicago, but from there he was able to escape, now forever.
In the last years of her life, Annie Taylor took pictures with tourists, sold souvenirs, tried to play the stock market, began to write a novel, talked about the possibility of a second jump into the waterfall, organized the filming of the first jump in 1901 (the tape never came out), declared herself a fortune teller and treated the neighbors with a kind of "magnetic therapeutic method."
Death
Annie Taylor died on April 29, 1921 at the age of 82, in Lockport, New York. She was buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Niagara Falls, at the Stunt Lot.
see also
Write a review on "Taylor, Annie Edson"
Notes
Literature
In English- Women of Bay County(1980), Joan Totten Musinski Rezmer (ed.), Bay City, Michigan: Bay County Historical Society.
- Joan Murray(1999), Queen of the Mist: The Forgotten Heroine of Niagara, Beacon Press.
Links
- (English)
- (English)
An excerpt characterizing Taylor, Annie Edson
- Which book?– Gospel! I have no.
The doctor promised to get it and began to question the prince about how he felt. Prince Andrei reluctantly but reasonably answered all the doctor's questions and then said that he should have put a roller on him, otherwise it would be awkward and very painful. The doctor and the valet raised the overcoat with which he was covered, and, wincing at the heavy smell of rotten meat spreading from the wound, began to examine this scary place. The doctor was very dissatisfied with something, he altered something differently, turned the wounded man over so that he again groaned and, from pain during the turning, again lost consciousness and began to rave. He kept talking about getting this book as soon as possible and putting it there.
- And what does it cost you! he said. “I don’t have it, please take it out, put it in for a minute,” he said in a pitiful voice.
The doctor went out into the hallway to wash his hands.
“Ah, shameless, really,” said the doctor to the valet, who was pouring water on his hands. I just didn't watch it for a minute. After all, you put it right on the wound. It's such a pain that I wonder how he endures.
“We seem to have planted, Lord Jesus Christ,” said the valet.
For the first time, Prince Andrei understood where he was and what had happened to him, and remembered that he had been wounded and that at the moment when the carriage stopped in Mytishchi, he asked to go to the hut. Confused again from pain, he came to his senses another time in the hut, when he was drinking tea, and then again, repeating in his recollection everything that had happened to him, he most vividly imagined that moment at the dressing station when, at the sight of the suffering of a person he did not love , these new thoughts that promised him happiness came to him. And these thoughts, although vague and indefinite, now again took possession of his soul. He remembered that he now had a new happiness and that this happiness had something in common with the Gospel. That's why he asked for the gospel. But the bad position that had been given to his wound, the new turning over again confused his thoughts, and for the third time he woke up to life in the perfect stillness of the night. Everyone was sleeping around him. The cricket was shouting across the entryway, someone was shouting and singing in the street, cockroaches rustled on the table and icons, in autumn a thick fly beat on his headboard and near a tallow candle that was burning with a large mushroom and stood beside him.
His soul was not in a normal state. A healthy person usually thinks, feels and remembers at the same time about an innumerable number of objects, but he has the power and strength, having chosen one series of thoughts or phenomena, to stop all his attention on this series of phenomena. A healthy person, in a moment of deepest reflection, breaks away to say a courteous word to the person who has entered, and again returns to his thoughts. The soul of Prince Andrei was not in a normal state in this respect. All the forces of his soul were more active, clearer than ever, but they acted outside of his will. The most diverse thoughts and ideas simultaneously owned him. Sometimes his thought suddenly began to work, and with such force, clarity and depth, with which it had never been able to act in a healthy state; but suddenly, in the middle of her work, she broke off, was replaced by some unexpected performance, and there was no strength to return to her.
“Yes, a new happiness has opened up to me, inalienable from a person,” he thought, lying in a half-dark, quiet hut and looking ahead with feverishly open, stopped eyes. Happiness that is outside the material forces, outside the material external influences on a person, the happiness of one soul, the happiness of love! Any person can understand it, but only God alone can recognize and prescribe its motif. But how did God ordain this law? Why a son? .. And suddenly the train of these thoughts was interrupted, and Prince Andrei heard (not knowing whether he was delirious or really hears this), heard some kind of quiet, whispering voice, incessantly repeating to the beat: “And drink, drink, drink,” then “and ti ti” again “and drink ti ti” again “and ti ti”. At the same time, to the sound of this whispering music, Prince Andrei felt that some strange airy building of thin needles or splinters was being erected above his face, above the very middle. He felt (although it was hard for him) that he had to diligently keep his balance so that the building that was being erected would not collapse; but it still collapsed and again slowly rose to the sounds of evenly whispering music. "It's pulling! stretches! stretches and everything stretches, ”Prince Andrei said to himself. Together with listening to the whisper and with the feeling of this stretching and rising building of needles, Prince Andrei saw in fits and starts the red light of a candle surrounded by a circle and heard the rustling of cockroaches and the rustling of a fly beating on the pillow and on his face. And every time a fly touched his face, it produced a burning sensation; but at the same time he was surprised that, striking in the very region of the building erected on the face of his face, the fly did not destroy it. But besides that, there was one more important thing. It was white at the door, it was a statue of a sphinx that crushed him too.
, New York, USA - April 29, Lockport, New York, USA) is an American adventurer. On October 24, 1901, on her 63rd birthday, she was the first in the world to cross Niagara Falls in a wooden barrel.
background
Annie's father, Samuel Edson, owned a mill. He passed away when Annie was 12; however, the money he had accumulated was enough to provide the family with a comfortable existence. Annie became a school teacher, completing a four-year course with honors. During her studies, she met David Taylor, whom she later married. Their only son died in infancy. Taylor himself died during the Civil War. Having been widowed, Annie Taylor changed jobs and places of residence many times, ending up in Bay City, Michigan.
Niagara Falls
Wanting to strengthen her financial position, Taylor decided to become the first person to go down Niagara Falls in a barrel. She used a barrel of the original design, made of oak and iron parts, with a mattress inside. The event was postponed several times, not least because no one agreed to facilitate a potential suicide. Two days before the final date, the strength test of the barrel was carried out. The cat was placed inside. Contrary to rumors circulating at the time, the animal survived without a scratch and later posed for photographers with its owner.
On October 24, 1901, her 63rd birthday, Annie Taylor climbed into a barrel mounted on a boat; She took with her a talisman - a pillow in the shape of a heart. Annie's friends screwed on the lid and pumped air into the barrel with a bicycle pump; the hole for the hose is then tightly plugged. The barrel was launched off the American coast, south of Goat Island. The Niagara Current carried it to the Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side (since then, most of the stunt films have been filmed in this part of the falls).
Rescuers fished out the barrel shortly after splashdown. Annie Taylor escaped with a small head wound. The whole journey, including the fall, took no more than 20 minutes, but a lot of time passed before the barrel could be opened. Taylor told reporters:
last years of life
Annie was able to earn some money by talking about her adventure, but did not amass a serious fortune. Its manager, Frank Russell, fled with the famous barrel. Almost all of Annie's earnings were spent on private detectives. They tracked down Russell in Chicago, but from there he was able to escape, now forever.
In the last years of her life, Annie Taylor took pictures with tourists, sold souvenirs, tried to play the stock market, began to write a novel, talked about the possibility of a second jump into the waterfall, organized the filming of the first jump in 1901 (the tape never came out), declared herself a fortune teller and treated the neighbors with a kind of "magnetic therapeutic method."
Death
Annie Taylor died on April 29, 1921 at the age of 82, in Lockport, New York. She was buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Niagara Falls, at the Stunt Lot.
see also
Write a review on "Taylor, Annie Edson"
Notes
Literature
In English- Women of Bay County(1980), Joan Totten Musinski Rezmer (ed.), Bay City, Michigan: Bay County Historical Society.
- Joan Murray(1999), Queen of the Mist: The Forgotten Heroine of Niagara, Beacon Press.
Links
- (English)
- (English)
An excerpt characterizing Taylor, Annie Edson
– I have to leave, unfortunately... But I thank you for your story. I think you helped me survive, Sever... Can I ask you one more question that is no longer related to religion? He nodded. - What is this beauty standing next to you? It is similar, and at the same time completely different, than the one I saw on my first visit to Meteora.– This is the Crystal of Life, Isidora. One of the seven on Earth. Usually no one ever sees him - he defends himself from those who come ... But, oddly enough, he seemed to you. Apparently, you are ready for more, Isidora... That's why I asked you to stay with us. You could achieve a lot if you wanted to. Think before it's too late. I can't help you otherwise. Think Isidora...
Thank you, Sever. But you know my answer very well. So let's not start all over again. Perhaps I will return to you... And if not, good luck to you and your wards! Perhaps they will be able to change our Earth for the better... Good luck to you, Sever...
– May peace be with you, Isidora... I still hope that I will see you again in this life. Well, if not, I beg you, don’t hold a grudge against us even there, in another world... Someday you may understand our truth... Perhaps it won’t seem so evil to you... Farewell, child of Light. May there be Peace in your Soul...
Sadly, finally smiling at him and closing my eyes, I went back "home" ...
Returning straight to “my” Venetian room, I stared in shock at the spectacle that opened there! .. Bristling like a young animal caught in a trap, a furious Anna stood in front of Caraffa. Her eyes flashed with lightning, and it seemed that just a little bit more and my warlike daughter would lose control of herself. My heart almost stopped, unable to believe what was happening!.. It seemed that all my longing, accumulated for many months, would immediately break out and flood my sweet girl with her head!.. Only now, seeing her in front of me, I finally I realized how infinitely and painfully I missed her! .. Anna was very mature and looked even more beautiful than I could remember her. Her soft childish features were now superimposed with the harsh life seal of losses, and this made her sweet face seem even more attractive and refined. But what struck me most of all was that Anna was not at all afraid of Caraffa! .. What was the matter here? Did she manage to find something that could save us from him?! ..
- A! Madonna Isidora! Very handy!.. Please explain to your stubborn daughter that in this moment Nothing threatens you. She became truly impossible!.. I think Meteora only spoiled her gentle nature. But we will fix it. She won't have to go back there again.
What do you mean by that, Your Holiness? Did you want to make her a witch "from God", or did your plans change?
I was shaking with excitement and fear for Anna, but I knew that in no case should I show this to Karaffa. As soon as he understood that his plan turned out to be correct, and then for sure - Hell will seem like a rest to Anna and me ... compared to the cellars of Caraffa. So, while doing my best to look calm, at the same time I kept my eyes on my wonderful girl. Anna was so confident that I could only guess - what did they manage to teach her there, in Meteor? ...
Anna threw herself into my arms, completely ignoring Caraffa's displeasure. Her huge eyes shone like two bright stars in the Italian night sky!
“Mom, honey, I’m so glad—they lied to me!!! You're all right, right? They didn't torture you? Haven't harmed you?
She grabbed my hands, quickly felt my shoulders, carefully peered into my face, as if wanting to make sure that everything was really fine with me ... At least for now ...
- Mom, I was so afraid for you! .. I was so afraid that I would not find you alive! ..
But I called you! I wanted to warn you not to go. Why didn't you talk to me, dear?.. - hugging my brave girl, I whispered softly. - He deceived you, my joy! ..
Anna just smiled happily, squeezing me in her strong arms, and I had no choice but to do the same - she obviously was not going to listen to me, firmly believing that she was right ...
