Wednesday 14 August 2013

Ten Things You Didn't Know About Niagara Falls




Niagara Falls is the collective name for three sets of Falls, the Horseshoe Falls, Bridal Veil Falls and American Falls.  Here are ten things you may not know about Niagara Falls.

1.  Niagara Falls is the most popular destination for people visiting Toronto.

2.  Niagara Falls dates back 12000 years to the last Ice Age.  It erodes 1 metre per year and therefore has eroded 11 kilometres in total.

3.  Sixty-three year old schoolteacher Annie Edson Taylor was the first person to go over the Falls in a barrel.  She survived, as did 13 out of 18 who have attempted a similar feat.

4.  The Niagara River generates five million horsepower of electricity.

5.  Over 80% of the War of 1812 land battles took place along the Niagara River.



The Seat of the War of 1812

www.battlefieldhouse.ca

6.  The Niagara River marked the world's largest undefended border until the Canadians and Americans signed the Treaty of Ghent on Christmas Eve 1814.

7.  Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario's Parliament for a short time, was the site of the signing of the world's first anti-slavery law in 1793.

8.  The world's first railway suspension bridge was completed in 1848 above the Niagara River.

9.  Eighteen tightrope walkers have crossed the Niagara River including Charles Blondin, the most famous, and Nik Wallenda, the most recent.

10.  Sixty-eight Olympic-sized swimming pools could be filled with the amount of water that flows over Niagara Falls every minute.




www.momentotravel.com



Sources:  www.buzzfeed.com
               daily.bhascar.com

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