A daredevil walked a tightrope across Niagara Falls

On June 30, 1859, the French acrobat Charles Blondin — born Jean-François Gravelet — became the first person to cross the Niagara gorge on a tightrope. He strung a hemp rope about 1,100 feet long across the chasm and, carrying only a long balancing pole, set off above the churning water below.

An estimated 25,000 spectators arrived by train and steamer, lining both the American and Canadian banks. Blondin took his time, reportedly pausing midway to sit, lie back, and perform a somersault before strolling on. The walk took roughly 20 minutes.

He treated a feat that terrified onlookers as an easy afternoon’s work.

It was the first of many Niagara crossings he staged over 1859 and 1860, each more theatrical than the last — blindfolded, on stilts, inside a sack, pushing a wheelbarrow, even carrying his manager on his back and stopping to cook an omelet partway across. The performances cemented “The Great Blondin” as the most famous daredevil of his age.