List of objects that have gone over Niagara Falls

Numerous objects, both natural and artificial, have gone over the Niagara Falls. These events have been the result of successful stunts and accidents, of which some have resulted in fatalities. The first person to survive going over the falls was Sam Patch, who jumped off a platform as part of an 1829 daredevil stunt.

An estimated 5,000 bodies have been found at the foot of the falls since 1850,^[1] and an estimated 40 people are killed each year when they are swept over the falls – most of which are suicides.^[2] Survival rate for the daredevil attempts over the falls is approximately 75%.^[1]

People

• 1829 – On October 7, Sam Patch jumped from a platform adjacent to Goat Island into the gorge below.^[3] Patch repeated the stunt later in the same month, with a larger crowd.^[4]

• 1901 – On October 24, Annie Edson Taylor went over the falls in a barrel. She was mostly unharmed, but exited the barrel bleeding.^[5]

• 1911 – On July 25, Bobby Leach went over the falls in a barrel. He spent the following six months in hospital, recovering from two broken knee caps and a fractured jaw.^[5]
• 1920 – On July 11, Charles Stevens from Cornwall went over the falls in a barrel. Bobby Leach and William "Red" Hill, Sr. urged Stevens to test his barrel over the falls before attempting the stunt, but he refused. When the barrel was recovered at the foot of the falls, the ballast had pulled Steven's body out of the barrel, leaving just his right arm in the safety harness.^[6]
• 1928 – On July 4, Jean Lussier went over the falls in a large rubber ball.^[7]
• 1930 – On July 4, George Stathakis went over the falls in a barrel. Upon impact, the barrel was stuck behind a curtain of water and could not be recovered for 18 hours. Stathakis had an air supply of up to eight hours – although he had survived the initial fall, he died of suffocation.^[8]
• 1951 – On August 5, William "Red" Hill, Jr. (son of William "Red" Hill, Sr.) went over the falls in a craft he named "The Thing". The vessel broke apart on impact and Hill was killed; his body being found the following day.^[9]
• 1960 – On July 9, a seven-year-old American boy named Roger Woodward was swept over the falls. Woodward, his sister Deonne and boat driver James Honeycutt were in a 12 feet (3.7 m) aluminium fishing boat powered by a 7.5 horsepower (5.6 kW) motor which capsized. Roger, who was wearing a lifejacket and remained buoyant, was rescued by the Maid of the Mist at the bottom of the falls; Deonne was pulled from the river 6 feet (1.8 m) from the lip of the falls.^[1] Honeycutt died in the accident.^[10]
• 1961 – On July 15, Nathan Boya (also known as William Fitzgerald) went over the falls in a rubber ball nicknamed the "Plunge-O-Sphere". The ball hit rocks on impact and bounced, but Boya was uninjured.^[11]
• 1984 – On July 3, Karel Soucek went over the falls in a barrel. He emerged with only minor injuries to his face, caused by his wristwatch on impact with the water.^[12] Soucek's descent was reported to be 75 miles per hour (121 km/h), and it took 45 minutes for the barrel to be recovered.^[12]
• 1985 – On August 18, Steve Trotter went over the falls in a barrel. It was his second attempt – his first, in November 1984, was foiled by the police.^[13] Trotter's third attempt (on June 18, 1995) was also successful, when he went over the falls with Lori Martin.^[13]
• 1985 – On October 5, David Munday went over the falls in a barrel.^[14] During his second attempt, in 1990, the barrel became lodged at the top of the falls and was removed by crane. His third attempt, in 1993, was successful.^[14]
• 1989 – On September 28, Peter De Bernardi and Jeffery James Petkovich went over the falls in a reinforced barrel. Their stunt was to draw attention to an anti-drugs campaign.^[5][15]
• 1990 – On June 5, Jessie Sharp went over the falls in a kayak. He intended to continue paddling downriver after the fall, and had made dinner reservations at a restaurant in Lewiston, 4 miles (6.4 km) downstream. However, he disappeared after going over the falls, and his body has never been discovered.^[16]
• 1995 – On October 1, Robert Overacker went over the falls on a Jet Ski to raise awareness for the homeless. His parachute opened, but was not fixed to him and he fell down the falls. Overacker's body was recovered by the Maid of the Mist before being pronounced dead at Niagara General Hospital.^[5][17]
• 2003 – On October 22, Kirk Jones went over the falls. He became the first person to survive the drop without any aid in the fall, having swum from approximately 100 yards (91 m) before swimming over the falls. Jones and his friends had been drinking before the incident, and had planned to video the event – although his friends were not able to operate the recorder. Jones was fined $2,300 and banned for life from entering Canada.^[5]
• 2009 – On March 10, an unnamed man attempted suicide over the falls. In the attempt, his clothes were ripped from his body and he suffered shock and a laceration to the head, but survived.^[1]
• 2011 – On May 26, an unidentified woman was killed after she was swept over Horseshoe Falls. Reports suggest that she appeared alive on approaching the brink, but was declared dead on arrival of the rescue boat.^[18]
• 2011 – On August 14, Ayano Tokumasu – a Japanese exchange student – was swept over the Falls. Niagara Parks Police surveillance cameras show Tokumasu climbing onto the railing near the water's edge and sitting on a pillar block. At about 8:30 p.m. she stood up, lost her footing, and fell over the edge into the Niagara River, approximately 20 metres (66 ft) upstream from the falls.^[19][20][21] Her body was recovered on August 18.^[22]

Animals

• Fish regularly swim over the falls. The rapids upstream are rich in nutrients which draw fish in, and the currents can disorient them sufficiently to cause them to go over the falls. More fish survive the fall over Horseshoe Falls than the American Falls, due to the latter's talus.^[23] At one point, a tourist was grazed at the Cave of the Winds when a salmon was swept over the falls and hit him.^[24]
• Instances of waterfowl being swept over the falls have been recorded, particularly when disoriented in foggy weather.^[24]
• 1901 – On October 19, a cat named Iagara was sent over the falls in a barrel and survived.^[25]

Inanimate objects

• 1829 – On November 23, a schooner named the Superior went over the falls. It was a deliberate event that was originally scheduled to coincide with Sam Patch's stunt, but the ship was caught in the falls' whirpools and rested on rocks in shallow water for a month until stronger currents took it over the falls.^[26][27]
• 1837 – On December 29, the steamer Caroline was set alight and sent over the falls during the Upper Canada Rebellion. The events were part of the Caroline affair.^[1]
• 1901 – On October 19, a cat named Iagara was sent over the falls in a barrel.^[25]
• 1901 – On October 24, Annie Edson Taylor went over the falls in a large wooden barrel. The barrel was sealed and plugged with a cork, and a bicycle pump was used to increase the air pressure within the barrel to 30 pounds per square inch (210 kPa).^[5]
• 1911 – On July 25, Bobby Leach went over the falls in an 8 foot (2.4 m) steel barrel.^[5]
• 1920 – On July 11, Charles Stevens went over the falls in a heavy barrel made from Russian oak. It was equipped with two arm straps for Stevens to hold on to, and an anvil to fix to his feet to provide ballast. On impact with the water at the foot of the falls, the anvil tore through the barrel, pulling Stevens with it and severing his right arm. All that was recovered from the barrel was his arm.^[12]
• 1928 – On July 4, Jean Lussier went over the falls in a 6 foot (1.8 m) rubber ball. It was lined with steel bands and 32 inner tubes as shock absorbers. Within the ball were air tanks to provide up to 40 hours oxygen. Underneath the ball was 150 pounds (68 kg) hard rubber as ballast, but this broke off before Lussier went over the falls.^[7]
• 1930 – On July 4, George Stathakis went over the falls in a heavy barrel. He had studied Lussier and Stevens' attempts, and decided that a barrel heavier than their vessels would be safer. With the help of friends, Stathakis built a barrel reportedly weighing 2,000 pounds (910 kg).^[8]
• 1951 – On August 5, William "Red" Hill, Jr. went over the falls in a craft made of 13 inner tubes strapped together within a fishing net. He lacked the finances to build a robust barrel like earlier stuntmen, and his vessel (named "The Thing") was pulled apart by the currents on impact. After two minutes, pieces of The Thing began surfacing.^[9]
• 1961 – On July 15, Nathan Boya (also known as William Fitzgerald) went over the falls in a rubber ball similar to the one used by Jean Lussier in 1928. Boya's ball was a steel sphere wrapped in six layers of rubber, over which was layed a metal layer and a final coating of rubber. Boya spoke to Lussier prior to his attempt, and Lussier recommended that he took additional air and use a rebreather to recycle carbon dioxide.^[11]
• 1984 – On July 3, Karel Soucek went over the falls in wooden and plastic barrel. Ballast was put in one end of the barrel to ensure that he fell feet-first down the falls.^[12]
• 1985 – On August 18, Steve Trotter went over the falls in a large wooden barrel. The vessel was made from two pickle barrels fixed end-to-end, with added fibreglass for strength, balsa wood for buoyancy and inner tubes from truck tyres for shock absorption. Inside the barrel was an automotive racing harness, torches, a lifejacket, a two-way radio, and oxygen tanks. The ends of the barrel were sealed with submarine-style twist caps.^[13]
• 1985 – On October 5, David Munday went over the falls in a cylindrical steel barrel emblazoned with the Canadian flag.^[14]
• 1989 – On September 28, Peter De Bernardi and Jeffery James Petkovich went over the falls in a reinforced steel barrel. The yellow barrel was 10 feet (3.0 m) long, weighed 3,000 pounds (1,400 kg) and was equipped with harnesses and an oxygen supply. ^[15]
• 1990 – On June 5, Jessie Sharp went over the falls in a 3.6 metres (12 ft) long kayak.^[15]
• 1993 – On September 28, David Munday's second successful attempt was in a spherical barrel, painted with the Canadian flag and the words "Dave Munday challenges Niagara Falls for the last time". The barrel was sealed with four bolts, and equipped with a two-way radio but no air tanks.^[14]
• 1995 – On June 18, Steve Trotter went over the falls for a second time. On this event, the barrel was made from two hot water heater tanks – again fixed end-to-end – and covered in Kevlar.^[13]
• 1995 – On October 1, Robert Overacker went over the falls on a Jet Ski. His rocket-propelled parachute deployed, but was not tethered to him.^[5][16]

See also

• Over the Falls in a barrel

Footnotes

Sources