When you say the word “daredevil,” what image springs to mind? After you picture the Marvel guy in the red suit, we mean. It’s probably a man, maybe in his 30s, dressed in a dazzling, sparkly leather outfit, wearing a crash test helmet on his head and flashing a pair of gleaming, crazy eyes, howling like a madman as he charges into a death-defying stunt at a hundred miles per hour.

That’s a fair assessment, we would say. After all, a daredevil is a showman looking to garner as much attention as possible, because more eyeballs on his antics means more money and fame. But what if we told you that the daredevil we have in mind for today was none of those things? In fact, she was a quiet, matronly widow in her 60s named Annie Edson Taylor.

She might not have looked the part, but make no mistake about it. Taylor’s daredevil credentials are as solid as it gets, and many others have risked (and sacrificed) life and limb in order to replicate her infamous feat - going over Niagara Falls in a barrel.

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Further Reading:
https://archive.org/details/overfalls...
https://archive.org/details/queenofmi...
https://web.archive.org/web/201610250...
https://archive.org/details/queenofmi...
https://archive.org/details/queenofmi...
https://archive.org/details/overfalls...
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/01/ob...
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-h...
https://www.wbfo.org/heritage-moments...
https://www.newyorkalmanack.com/2023/...
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/01/ob...
https://web.archive.org/web/201110181...
https://archive.org/details/queenofmi...
https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2012/...
https://americacomesalive.com/annie-e...
https://archive.org/details/queenofmi...
https://web.archive.org/web/201610250...
https://web.archive.org/web/201610250...
https://archive.org/details/queenofmi...
https://www.newyorkalmanack.com/2023/...
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/01/ob...

Annie Edson Taylor - Over the Falls

Dr. Charles Carlin Parish - Queen of the Mist

https://web.archive.org/web/201610250...

https://www.newyorkalmanack.com/2023/...

https://www.wbfo.org/heritage-moments...

https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2012/...

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-h...

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/01/ob...

https://americacomesalive.com/annie-e...