The first person to successfully go over Niagara Falls in a barrel was Annie Edson Taylor, a 63-year-old schoolteacher, on October 24, 1901. Seeking financial security and fame, she designed a custom oak barrel reinforced with iron hoops and padded with a mattress. She survived the plunge over the Horseshoe Falls with only a small gash on her head. Since then, several others have attempted the feat with varying degrees of success and tragedy. Notable survivors include Bobby Leach (1911), who used a steel barrel but later died from an infected leg after slipping on an orange peel, and William "Red" Hill Jr. (1951), who tragically died when his flimsy craft, "The Thing," disintegrated upon impact. In more recent history, Karel Soucek survived the falls in 1984 only to die a year later during a stunt at the Houston Astrodome. It is important to note that performing such stunts is highly illegal and carries heavy fines and the risk of imprisonment on both the U.S. and Canadian sides. The physical toll of the 167-foot drop, combined with the immense pressure of the water at the base, makes it an incredibly lethal endeavor that is now strictly monitored by park police.
The Niagara River is a river that flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. It forms part of the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. There are differing theories as to the origin of the river's name.