October 24th is the Anniversary of the very first recorded Niagara Falls Daredevil. School teacher Annie Eddison Taylor went over the falls in a barrel on this date in 1901.
Annie Taylor saw an opportunity to attain fame and fortune by going over Niagara Falls in a barrel with her cat. Taylor was 63 at the time and saw opportunity to attract a large crowd and media attention due to the proximity of the Pam Am Exposition taking place in nearby Buffalo, NY.
At approximately 4:30pm, Taylor and her barrel plunged over the Falls only to resurface at the bottom a minute later. Taylor and her cat miraculously survived the ordeal to the amazing of onlookers with only minor injuries.
Annie Eddison Taylor’s name has gone down in history but the fortune she was chasing was never found. She sold mementos of her stunt but she never got rich and died in 1921 next to penniless.
