By: HISTORY.com Editors

Daredevil crosses Niagara Falls on tightrope

Published: July 21, 2010Last Updated: February 18, 2025

Jean Francois Gravelet, a Frenchman known professionally as Charles Blondin, becomes the first daredevil to walk across Niagara Falls on a tightrope. The feat, which was performed 160 feet above the Niagara gorge just down river from the Falls, was witnessed by some 5,000 spectators. Wearing pink tights and a yellow tunic, Blondin crossed a cable about two inches in diameter and 1,100-feet long with only a balancing pole to protect him from plunging into the dangerous rapids below.

It was the first in a series of famous Niagara tightrope walks performed by “The Great Blondin” from 1859 to 1860. These “ascensions,” as he advertised them, always had different theatrical variations, including doing tightrope walks blindfolded, in a sack, with his manager on his back, sitting down midway to cook an omelet, and pushing a wheelbarrow across while dressed as an ape. In 1861, he performed at the Crystal Palace in London, turning somersaults on stilts on a rope stretched 170 feet above the ground. He died in 1897.

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Citation Information

Article Title: Daredevil crosses Niagara Falls on tightrope
Author: HISTORY.com Editors
Website Name: History
URL: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/june-30/daredevil-crosses-niagara-falls-on-tightrope

Date Accessed: October 21, 2026
Publisher: A&E Television Networks
Last Updated: February 18, 2025
Original Published Date: July 21, 2010

Daredevil crosses Niagara Falls on tightrope

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