So Annie sent out the barrel with a cat inside for a run over Niagara's Horseshoe Falls on Oct. 18, 1901. When the barrel washed to shore and was opened, the cat emerged unharmed, boosting Annie's confidence that she too could survive the 167-foot plunge.

Yes, a cat famously went over Niagara Falls and survived as part of a "test run" for the world's first successful barrel stunt. On October 18, 1901, 63-year-old teacher Annie Edson Taylor sent her domestic cat over the Horseshoe Falls in a custom-built oak and iron barrel. The barrel plummeted 167 feet and was recovered a few minutes later; when opened, the cat emerged completely unharmed, though reportedly "dazed." Two days later, Taylor used the same barrel to become the first human to survive the plunge. In some later versions of the story, Taylor was photographed with the cat (often nicknamed "Queen of the Mist"), though historians debate if it was the same cat or a "stunt double" used for the press. Regardless, the cat's survival was the critical proof Taylor needed to convince her skeptical team that a living being could endure the immense pressure and impact of the falls.