Annie Edson Taylor decided to celebrate her 63rd birthday in a unique way. Mrs. Taylor was a schoolteacher and she needed money. Imagine that. She figured a publicity stunt would bring fame and fortune. No one had ever survived going over Niagara Falls. She was determined to be the first. She had a special barrel made of oak and iron. It had an interior padded by a mattress. Two days before, she tested the barrel with a cat. Kitty survived and it was time for a human passenger. On October 24, 1901 Mrs. Taylor got out of a rowboat and into the barrel, with her lucky heart-shaped pillow. After a 160-foot drop, she was pulled out at the base of the falls unharmed. Although the feat has been achieved by men, she is still the only woman to survive going over the fall alone. Unfortunately, she did not reap the financial rewards she had hoped for and regrated the stunt.
If it was with my dying breath, I would caution anyone against attempting the feat … I would sooner walk up to the mouth of a cannon, knowing it was going to blow me to pieces than make another trip over the Fall.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Edson_Taylor
http://www.infoniagara.com/niagaradaredevils/annietaylor.aspx
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