Unique Daily Info : Fun Facts about Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls, city in the Regional Municipality of Niagara, southeastern Ontario, Canada, a port on the Niagara River opposite Niagara Falls, New York. The city overlooks the Horseshoe, or Canadian, Falls cataract of Niagara Falls; the crescent-shaped cataract is 54 M (177 ft) high and carries nine times more water than its United States counterpart. Niagara Falls is an enormously popular tourist destination, and it also serves as a major source of electricity for Ontario.

 

Here let’s check it out fun facts about Niagara Falls :

• The Falls at Niagara are about 12,000 years old.
• Niagara Falls is made up of 3 waterfalls : the American Falls, the Bridal Veil Falls and the Horseshoe Falls. The 3 waterfalls combine to produce the highest flow rate of any waterfall on earth.

• Fish travel down the Falls—and about 90% of them survive thanks to the foamy cushion on the way down.
• The Niagara River flows at approximately 35 miles/hour (56.3 kilometers/hour).
• 681,750 gallons of water flows over the Horseshoe Falls every second.

• The first person to ever go over the Falls was a courageous 63-year-old teacher Annie Edson Taylor. She traveled down the Falls in a barrel.

• About 20% of the fresh water in the United States passes over Niagara Falls.

• The word Niagara comes from the word "onguiaahra" which means "a thundering noise".

• About 28,000,000 (that’s 28 million!) liters of water travel down Niagara Falls every second.

• Niagara Falls is not the highest waterfall in the world. There are actually about 500 waterfalls that are taller than Niagara. It’s actually the combination of height and large volume of water that makes Niagara Falls a great tourist destination.

• Although Niagara Falls isn’t the tallest waterfall in the world, it may be the fastest moving waterfall on the planet.

• Niagara Falls is the result of glaciers. (Niagara Falls was created by glacier activity around 10,000 years ago).

• Niagara Falls is the collective name for three water Falls that overlap the international borders of Canada and New York.

• Parts of the movie Pirates of the Caribbean were filmed at Niagara Falls. Superman and Niagara starring Marilyn Monroe were also filmed at the Falls.

• At the current rate of erosion, scientists believe that Niagara Falls will be gone in around 50,000 years.

• The first tightrope walker to cross Niagara Falls did so in 1859. Daredevil Nik Wallenda tempted fate with a highwire crossing of Niagara Falls in June 2012 before an audience of tens of thousands at the Falls and millions more on live TV.

• You are almost always guaranteed to see a rainbow if you’re on the Canadian side of the Falls. To capture this beautiful phenomenon be sure grab your camera and visit from about noon until the sun sets.

• Fish actually travel over the Falls. Don’t believe it? Visit the Cave of the Winds for $10. This place will prove the fact and you might even meet someone who has actually been struck by a fish on his journey down the Falls.

• Approximately 90% of the fish that travel down Niagara Falls survive. It is believed that the white foam from the rushing waters acts like a cushion for the fish traveling down the waters.

• Back in the 1800’s Niagara Falls was nearly frozen solid. The water was so frozen that only a small trickle of water traveled down the Falls.

• About 20% of the drinking water in the United States goes through and over Niagara Falls. Yup, you have most likely drank water that came from the Falls.

• Falls were formed when melting glaciers formed massive fresh-water lakes (the Great Lakes) one of which (Lake Erie) ran downhill toward another (Lake Ontario). The rushing waters carved out a river in their descent and at one point passed over a steep cliff like formation (the Niagara escarpment). From the original falls going over the Niagara Escarpment, the water began to wear its way back up the river. The path that it left is known today as the Niagara Gorge (a deeply-cut and very scenic river path).
• Currently, Niagara Falls wears its way back another approximately 1 foot/year.
• There are actually two waterfalls in Niagara, the American Falls and the Canadian Horseshoe Falls.
• It is the combination of height and water flow that makes Niagara Falls so beautiful.
• The Horseshoe Falls are 180 feet (57 meters) high and allow 6 million cubic feet (168,000 cubic meters) of water over the crestline every minute during peak daytime tourist hours (that is about a million bathtubs full of water every minute!).
• Man-made attractions of Niagara Falls include Maid of the Mist, Table Rock Scenic Tunnels, Spanish Aero Car, Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum, Marineland, Casino Niagara, IMAX Theatre, and the new Butterfly Conservatory.
• In 1959, the face of Niagara was changed when Louis Tussaud's English Wax Museum was opened.
• Niagara Falls was an area early settled and vigorously active in Canada's formative years.
• The Minolta Tower rises 325 feet above the Horseshoe Falls.
• Skylon Tower rises 775 feet above the Falls.
• In 1960, Roger Woodward was the boy who had survived a descent over the Falls after a boating accident above the Falls.
• Hydro Electricity generated in Niagara Falls at the Sir Adam Beck 1 and Sir Adam Beck 2 power stations from redirected waterflow serves the electrical needs of Southern Ontario and Western New York.
• Blondin was a funambulist (tight-rope walker) who performed numerous crossings of the gorge in Niagara Falls during the mid 1800s.
• Blondin performed endless stunts on the high-wire, from crossing blindfolded to carrying a cooking stove and preparing an omelet on the high wire.
• Most spectacularly, was the stunt during which Blondin carried on his back Harry Colcord his 148-pound manager August 19, 1859.
• Annie Taylor "Queen of the Mist" , a school teacher from Bay City Michigan was first person to travel over the Falls in a barrel on October 24, 1901.
• Since her feat, many stunt artists have challenged the mighty Falls usually in home-made barrel-like contraptions.
• More recently, a couple of foolhardy individuals have attempted to survive a plunge over Niagara Falls in a kayak and a jetski - they both perished.
• Niagara Falls' night time illumination makes a visitation to Niagara a spectacular event at all times of the day.
• Ice bridges form below the Falls when ice floes travel over the edge and collect at the base of the Falls.
• Niagara Falls Ontario Canada is known as the Honeymoon Capital of the world.
• "Uncle Toms Cabin", a famous novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe was partly inspired by the writers trip to Niagara Falls and her subsequent interest in Reverend Josiah Henson who smuggled runaway slaves across the Niagara River into Canada.
• Until 1886, when the Statue of Liberty was erected, the Falls at Niagara were the symbol of America and the New World. Visitors from all over the world targeted Niagara as a must-see during a visit to North America.
• The Spanish Aero car ride provides a spectacular trip across the famed Whirlpool Rapids a few miles down from the actual waterfalls.
• Water is redirected from traveling over the Falls in order to drive large hydro-electric turbines that produce electricity for Southern Ontario and Western New York State.
• An "Old Scow" (a steel barge) remains stranded a few hundred meters above the Falls and has been marooned there since August 6, 1918 when a near tragedy was averted by three men who opened the dumping hatches of the barge to let water in and ground the out-of control boat.
• One of the largest Butterfly Conservatories in North America has been added to Niagara's growing list of attractions.
• Water that flows over the Falls at Niagara ultimately ends up in Lake Ontario - from there, water drains by way of the St. Lawrence River in to the Atlantic Ocean.
• One of the bloodiest battles of the War of 1812 took place on July 25, 1814 at Lundy's Lane in Niagara Falls, Ontario... A total of 7500 Americans and Canadians fought for six hours. At the end, 1,000 soldiers lay dead or wounded.
• In March of 1848, the waters stopped flowing over Niagara's famous cliff when the Niagara River was plugged temporarily at the mouth of the river in Fort Erie, Ontario.
• Niagara Falls is steeped in history and was one of the most popular and busiest New World visiting spot.
• Water painting artists embraced this City's natural wonders as a source for their artistic inspirations - there exists hundreds of these early impressions - consult your local library for reference to these early images.
  Now that you’re armed with many interesting facts about Niagara Falls, it’s time to go enjoy the beautiful views. Book a room at one of the beautiful and luxurious Niagara Falls resorts and build memories that will last a lifetime.