Going over Niagara Falls in a barrel was one daredevil stunt that Houdini did not perform. But he did consider the idea and made notes on how he'd do it.

No, Harry Houdini never went over Niagara Falls in a barrel or any other device, despite a common urban legend suggesting he did. While Houdini was famous for his death-defying escapes and often performed "overboard" stunts—such as being shackled and thrown into the East River—he considered a stunt over the actual falls to be suicidal rather than a feat of escapology. The closest he ever came was in 1922 during the filming of his movie The Man from Beyond, where he performed a scripted rescue scene in the dangerous rapids just above the falls. Houdini did, however, make notes in his personal journals about a "Niagara Falls Escape" that would have involved a "trick" packing case, where he would appear to go over the falls but would actually be safely removed before the box entered the current. He ultimately never performed this stunt, likely because the logistical risks outweighed the publicity value. The person most famously associated with being the first to survive going over the falls in a barrel was actually Annie Edson Taylor, a 63-year-old schoolteacher, who accomplished the feat in 1901.