Niagara Falls is the collective name for three waterfalls that straddle the international border between Canada and the United States.
The names of three waterfalls are: the American Falls, the Bridal Veil Falls and the Horseshoe Falls.
The Horseshoe Falls are the largest and the Bridal Veil Falls the smallest.
The three waterfalls combine to produce the highest flow rate of any waterfall on earth.
The largest vertical drop is over 50 meters (165 feet).
It’s the combination of height and volume that makes Niagara Falls so beautiful.
The Falls make a tremendous sound as the water goes over and lands at the bottom.
Since its formation more than 12,000 years ago, Niagara Falls has been a destination for world explorers, honeymooners and daredevils alike.
The Niagara River is about 58 kilometers (36 miles) in length and is the natural outlet from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario.
The elevation between the two lakes is about 99 meters (326 feet), half occurring at the Falls themselves.
The word “Niagara” is derived from the Iroquois Indian word “Onguiaahra” meaning “the strait”
The flow of water was stopped completely over both falls on March 29th 1848 due to an ice jam in the upper river for several hours. This is the only known time to have occurred.
The Falls did not actually freeze over, but the flow was stopped to the point where people actually walked out and recovered artifacts from the riverbed!
The flow over the American Falls was stopped completely for several months in 1969. The idea was to determine the feasibility of removing the large amount of loose rock from the base of the falls to enhance it’s appearance. In the end the final decision was that the expense would be too great.
The Niagara Falls are a source of hydropower, producing large amounts of electricity.
A monument dedicated to Serbian-American inventor Nikola Tesla sits on Goat Island.
Goat Island is a small island in the Niagara River, located in the middle of Niagara Falls between the Bridal Veil Falls and the Horseshoe Falls.
Niagara Falls is one of the seven natural wonders of the world.
Every night at Niagara Falls, the falls are lit up in a rainbow of colors.
Niagara Falls is a great location for rainbows (or solar bows) as sunshine reflects off the mist from the Falls and delights our many visitors with a beautiful show of colors.
It is estimated that around 30 million people visit Niagara Falls each year, with numbers rising all the time.
Before the invention of film, tourists would sketch pictures of the Falls.
Niagara Falls State Park is the oldest state park in the United States.In 1885, the Niagara appropriations bill was signed into law, creating the Niagara Reservation.
Scientists are estimate that with current rate of erosion the Niagara Falls will be gone in around 50,000 years.
In 2012 Nik Wallenda has become the first person to tightrope walk directly over Niagara Falls, crossing through the falls’ famous mists and gusts in less than a half hour Friday night while tethered to a wire at the insistence of the network televising the stunt.
In the 1800s, a few tightrope walkers had crossed over the Niagara Gorge down river, but none had ever crossed directly over the Falls.
It is illegal to go over Niagara Falls.Some people have tried it anyway, some survived, some were injured and some were killed.
The first person to go over the Falls in a barrel and survive was a 63 year old female schoolteacher.