WEBVTT - How Going Over Niagara Works 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:02.840 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 0:00:03.160 --> 0:00:07.600 It's ready. Are you welcome to Stuff you should know 0:00:08.240 --> 0:00:11.479 from house Stuff Works dot com? Hey, and welcome to 0:00:11.560 --> 0:00:15.320 the podcast. I'm Josh Clark. With me is Chuck Bryant. 0:00:15.600 --> 0:00:18.040 I'm doing sign language. Josh, are you do you do 0:00:18.040 --> 0:00:21.160 have finger fumblers? Uh? No, but since you brought it up, 0:00:21.480 --> 0:00:25.799 we have a finger fumbler good blood, bad blood, not 0:00:25.880 --> 0:00:28.120 to jump the gun that that has nothing to do 0:00:28.160 --> 0:00:31.560 with this podcast. Can you sign that out for him? Okay, 0:00:31.920 --> 0:00:35.040 Well to anyone who knows sign language, give good blood, 0:00:35.040 --> 0:00:37.880 bad blood shot. Oh and that also reminds me Chuck. 0:00:37.920 --> 0:00:40.920 One of our listeners sent in a I guess a 0:00:41.360 --> 0:00:47.800 um mind melt rightser size, make a clockwise circle on 0:00:47.840 --> 0:00:51.840 the floor with your right foot while writing the number 0:00:51.960 --> 0:00:54.240 six on a pad of paper. I tried it. It 0:00:54.360 --> 0:00:56.880 is really tough. It made me crazy. Yeah. Things like 0:00:56.920 --> 0:00:59.960 that really get to Chuck. So Chuck, that's a good 0:01:00.040 --> 0:01:01.760 thing that we had this little bit of banter, because 0:01:01.760 --> 0:01:05.320 I had like no introduction whatsoever for this one convenient 0:01:05.400 --> 0:01:07.480 How about this? Have you ever been in Niagara Falls? 0:01:07.760 --> 0:01:13.039 I have not? Yeah, no, I haven't. And I even lived, 0:01:13.080 --> 0:01:15.960 you know, in the north or not the north, the Midwest, 0:01:16.000 --> 0:01:18.760 but the northern Midwest. It's not too far from Ohio. No, 0:01:18.840 --> 0:01:22.440 it's not that far, especially Toledo. So um. But yeah, 0:01:22.600 --> 0:01:25.479 never made it up there. And actually, the the only 0:01:25.520 --> 0:01:28.080 time I've ever really seen Niagara Falls, um, was on 0:01:28.120 --> 0:01:31.600 what Superman two where Clark Kent and Lois Lane Honeymoon. 0:01:32.120 --> 0:01:34.240 If I remember correctly, that's the only time you've seen 0:01:34.319 --> 0:01:38.760 Niagara Falls. Yeah, that's the most I've seen of it. Yeah, 0:01:38.800 --> 0:01:43.240 it's not the only time. I don't live in a cave, chuck. Um, 0:01:43.319 --> 0:01:45.839 So I do know a few things about Niagara Falls. 0:01:46.160 --> 0:01:47.880 You want me to lay it on you, I will 0:01:47.920 --> 0:01:51.320 tell you this, Chuck. Every year, Niagara Falls attracts about 0:01:51.320 --> 0:01:56.400 twelve million visitors, right, it's a huge tourist attractionation now, um, 0:01:56.480 --> 0:02:00.880 and from what else? From research, I've also found that, Um, 0:02:00.920 --> 0:02:03.320 if you stand there long enough, somebody's going to go 0:02:03.360 --> 0:02:06.560 in what do you mean, hell on the Niagara River 0:02:06.640 --> 0:02:08.239 and they're going to go over the falls if you 0:02:08.280 --> 0:02:10.800 stand there long enough. And now we may be talking 0:02:10.840 --> 0:02:16.400 like months years, who knows, but they do pull about 0:02:16.440 --> 0:02:19.160 twenty bodies out of the bottom of the falls every year. Yeah, 0:02:19.160 --> 0:02:22.520 sadly it's a it's a suicide destination for for some folks. Yeah, 0:02:22.520 --> 0:02:25.679 and that was just suicide's right. Yeah, but there are 0:02:26.520 --> 0:02:31.680 a subgroup of humans running around over the last hundred 0:02:31.760 --> 0:02:35.120 or so years who actually go over the falls on purpose. 0:02:36.080 --> 0:02:38.519 That old cliche going over Niagara Falls in a barrel. 0:02:39.040 --> 0:02:41.040 There's actually a lot of people who have done that, 0:02:41.120 --> 0:02:43.919 and it's usually a barrel. Yeah, yeah, especially the old 0:02:43.919 --> 0:02:46.960 timing people. They went over in barrels. All of them, 0:02:47.360 --> 0:02:49.920 oh yeah, all of them modified. And then you know, 0:02:49.960 --> 0:02:52.720 as we progressed further into the twentieth century, the barrels 0:02:52.720 --> 0:02:55.480 became you know, a little better, a little stronger, but yeah, 0:02:55.520 --> 0:03:00.760 pretty much all barrels or balls spheres. Sixteen uh, if 0:03:00.760 --> 0:03:04.000 I'm not mistaken, sixteen people have done so from two 0:03:04.040 --> 0:03:06.200 thousand three, and as far as I could find, the 0:03:06.200 --> 0:03:08.799 guy who did it in two thousand three was the 0:03:09.320 --> 0:03:12.280 last one. I couldn't find anybody who's tried it more recently. Right, 0:03:12.320 --> 0:03:14.520 his is the most amazing. But we should probably save that. 0:03:15.120 --> 0:03:17.240 People don't tell it off a little bit. Yeah, we 0:03:17.280 --> 0:03:20.399 want to, we want to pay it out slowly. So Chuck, 0:03:20.480 --> 0:03:22.400 let's talk about the falls a little bit. How how's 0:03:22.400 --> 0:03:26.360 your geography terrible? You want me to handle it? Well? No, 0:03:26.480 --> 0:03:27.760 I mean I can. I can give you a few 0:03:27.760 --> 0:03:29.840 facts here and there, but geography as a whole is 0:03:29.840 --> 0:03:31.280 not my strong suit. All right, we'll give us a 0:03:31.280 --> 0:03:34.160 few facts here there. Geographically speaking, if you've never been 0:03:34.200 --> 0:03:36.720 to Niagara Falls, you might think that it's one set 0:03:36.720 --> 0:03:39.280 of falls, and if you've seen the famous photos, but 0:03:39.520 --> 0:03:42.040 is actually three sets of falls, which I'm sure you 0:03:42.080 --> 0:03:46.840 know Horseshoe Falls, Yeah, that's the Canadian one, right, Uh, yes, 0:03:47.040 --> 0:03:51.440 the American falls, that's the American American and the lesser 0:03:51.480 --> 0:03:55.000 known and smaller bridal Veil Falls, right. And I know 0:03:55.040 --> 0:03:57.240 you have some good numbers on these. Well, I can 0:03:57.280 --> 0:03:59.520 tell you that this three fall set up that we 0:03:59.600 --> 0:04:03.120 see in Niagara Falls today, or people unlike me who 0:04:03.240 --> 0:04:06.560 go to Niagara Falls see today, Um, it's actually only 0:04:06.560 --> 0:04:10.640 about five years old. Uh. The the falls actually a 0:04:10.760 --> 0:04:13.920 road these days because they've hit some serious bedrock. They 0:04:13.960 --> 0:04:17.880 erode backward about four to five ft a year. Yeah 0:04:17.880 --> 0:04:20.080 that's a lot. It is a lot, but they've eroded 0:04:20.160 --> 0:04:23.359 much much more quickly than that over time. And also 0:04:23.400 --> 0:04:26.200 I should say that the the the entirety of of 0:04:26.279 --> 0:04:29.599 Niagara Falls is only about fifteen thousand years old. Uh. 0:04:29.640 --> 0:04:31.919 It was the result of the last ice age. At 0:04:31.920 --> 0:04:34.920 the end of the last ice age. Um. But okay, 0:04:34.960 --> 0:04:38.919 so so it's um eroding backward five five ft a 0:04:39.000 --> 0:04:43.120 year um. And eventually it hit a point and the 0:04:43.240 --> 0:04:46.720 river went down enough, the water flow went lowered enough 0:04:47.160 --> 0:04:51.400 that it hit this island, which split it into two. River. 0:04:52.040 --> 0:04:54.800 The Niagara River was split into two, and actually there's 0:04:54.800 --> 0:04:57.240 a second smaller island, Luna Island, that split it into 0:04:57.320 --> 0:05:00.800 three and created Bridal Veil Falls. Um. But this island, 0:05:00.839 --> 0:05:04.880 called Goat Island, is actually named after a herd of 0:05:05.000 --> 0:05:08.800 hapless goats that froze to death on the island. Um. 0:05:08.839 --> 0:05:12.240 In they belonged to a goat herder named John Steadman, 0:05:12.560 --> 0:05:14.640 and that's why Goat Island is called goat Islands. The 0:05:15.279 --> 0:05:19.479 goats were they no, they were freezing goats. Yeah. So 0:05:19.880 --> 0:05:23.240 that's that's a little bit about Niagara Falls. Oh. I 0:05:23.240 --> 0:05:25.880 should probably give some stats here because I know everybody 0:05:25.960 --> 0:05:28.160 loves stats. Do you have any stats? And now I'm 0:05:28.240 --> 0:05:31.960 usually statman, but the can I take your your role today? Okay, So, 0:05:32.000 --> 0:05:34.800 Horseshoe Falls is by far the biggest one. UM it's 0:05:34.839 --> 0:05:37.159 a hundred and sixty seven foot drop. Then it hits 0:05:37.200 --> 0:05:39.040 the made of the miss pool and actually goes down 0:05:39.040 --> 0:05:41.520 about another hundred and eighty feet. So if you plunged 0:05:41.640 --> 0:05:44.240 right down to the maid of the miss pool, UM, 0:05:44.360 --> 0:05:46.640 what is that, that's like almost four hundred feet, right, 0:05:47.040 --> 0:05:50.160 it's quite a bit. That's a significant drop. Um, it's 0:05:50.200 --> 0:05:53.599 a there's a twenty foot brink and the water goes 0:05:53.720 --> 0:05:57.400 over that brink at about six hundred thousand gallons per second. 0:05:58.120 --> 0:06:00.800 It's a lot of water. Yeah, So you know, if 0:06:00.839 --> 0:06:03.880 you went over the falls and survived, you've still got 0:06:03.920 --> 0:06:06.440 this water beating down on you at that kind of rate, 0:06:06.960 --> 0:06:09.880 which you could easily die. And even though um, Horseshoe 0:06:09.920 --> 0:06:13.480 Falls is much bigger and there the the water volume 0:06:13.600 --> 0:06:16.440 is is much greater. That's the one that people go over, 0:06:16.760 --> 0:06:19.480 and they go over Niagara Falls because American Falls. UM 0:06:20.160 --> 0:06:22.320 it puts water out about a hundred and fifty thousand 0:06:22.360 --> 0:06:25.880 gallons a second. But the hundred and seventy six ft 0:06:25.960 --> 0:06:28.679 dropped to the bottom about a hundred and six feet 0:06:28.720 --> 0:06:31.120 of that is rock. You dropped seventy ft right on 0:06:31.240 --> 0:06:34.440 this huge tumble of rocks. It's not a good idea 0:06:34.520 --> 0:06:36.240 to go over that one. It's nice to look at. 0:06:36.600 --> 0:06:39.599 It is very pretty, especially bridal bill falls just falling 0:06:39.640 --> 0:06:44.680 in the background, Superman flying around saving people. So um, 0:06:44.760 --> 0:06:47.239 so okay, there are people who go over the falls, 0:06:47.320 --> 0:06:49.920 Chuck and um, do you know much about Daredevil's I 0:06:49.960 --> 0:06:52.400 think is a pretty fair description to these people. Well, 0:06:52.400 --> 0:06:54.640 I wrote an article on daredevils. Was that your article? 0:06:54.720 --> 0:06:56.600 It was? It was a great article. I actually went 0:06:56.640 --> 0:06:58.960 back and referenced that and I saw that there's a 0:06:59.000 --> 0:07:00.599 picture of the first person and you go over the 0:07:00.640 --> 0:07:04.719 falls in your article, right? Who was a woman? Yeah? 0:07:04.839 --> 0:07:10.560 And Edison Taylor. But backtracking again, we're saving our anecdotes 0:07:10.600 --> 0:07:12.040 of the people who went over So yeah, we're talking 0:07:12.080 --> 0:07:15.800 about Daredevil's right, right, what about that one's study? Which 0:07:15.880 --> 0:07:19.200 one the one with the testosterone? Oh right, yeah, Daredevil's 0:07:19.200 --> 0:07:22.080 have a uh what is it? A higher level of 0:07:22.080 --> 0:07:28.040 testosterone but a lower level of um satisfaction. I looked 0:07:28.040 --> 0:07:30.920 it up. Serotonin. Uh, and it's serotonin one of the 0:07:30.920 --> 0:07:34.360 things that does It's a neurotransmitter and UM it ecks 0:07:34.440 --> 0:07:38.760 the curb impulsiveness. So apparently high levels of testosterone and 0:07:38.800 --> 0:07:42.320 low levels of you know, a neurotransmitter that curbs impulsiveness 0:07:42.320 --> 0:07:46.720 equals daredevil. Right. So that's one explanation. Another explanation is 0:07:46.720 --> 0:07:50.640 found actually in some poor lab mice who had the 0:07:50.160 --> 0:07:54.440 UM the staffman gene bread out of them, the infamous 0:07:54.440 --> 0:07:57.320 staffman gene. Yeah, it was about to be infamous. Um. 0:07:57.360 --> 0:08:01.800 This gene produces a protein right that allows UM nerve 0:08:01.880 --> 0:08:05.800 cells to UH to communicate with one another in the amygdala, 0:08:06.520 --> 0:08:10.280 and the amygdala is known to UM allow us to 0:08:10.320 --> 0:08:14.280 form fear memories. Memories from fear a version like put 0:08:14.320 --> 0:08:16.960 your hand on a hot oven. Your amygdala is going 0:08:17.000 --> 0:08:19.200 to be like, oh, we can't do that again. Some 0:08:19.480 --> 0:08:21.480 hot stove is what they generally say. But a hot 0:08:21.520 --> 0:08:25.200 ovens bad too. Okay, hot oven, hot stove, I know 0:08:25.200 --> 0:08:28.440 what you mean. UM. So the so these mice are 0:08:28.520 --> 0:08:31.320 they were actually called in this article rather sensationally UM 0:08:31.480 --> 0:08:35.160 daredevil mice. They they showed no kinds of traditional mice fear. 0:08:35.240 --> 0:08:38.679 They explored open spaces, UM, they really didn't have much 0:08:38.679 --> 0:08:42.440 of an aversion to receiving electric shocks. Basically, these mice 0:08:42.559 --> 0:08:45.120 are leading a pretty hard life. I think up at 0:08:45.120 --> 0:08:48.839 Cornella Rutgers, right, and I know that daredevil's often say 0:08:49.040 --> 0:08:52.600 that they don't fear things like most people do. So 0:08:52.640 --> 0:08:55.600 it's not like they're just overcoming this thing and they 0:08:55.640 --> 0:08:57.720 just have to jump off of out of the plane. 0:08:57.760 --> 0:09:01.120 They really it just doesn't affect them, which I can't 0:09:01.160 --> 0:09:03.160 even begin to conceive of that. I have a little 0:09:03.160 --> 0:09:05.080 bit of that to me. I used to repel and yeah, 0:09:05.160 --> 0:09:07.240 stuff like that, but there was a little bit of 0:09:07.280 --> 0:09:09.680 fear involved. But I was one of those that was 0:09:09.760 --> 0:09:12.320 overcoming the fear as opposed to yeah, you're a self 0:09:12.360 --> 0:09:15.160 actualized person. I was all right, well, Chuck, let's meet 0:09:15.160 --> 0:09:17.960 some of the idiots. You've gone over Niagara Falls. Yes, 0:09:18.000 --> 0:09:21.560 And at this point, as our attorneys would be so pleased, 0:09:21.640 --> 0:09:24.360 I will say that you should certainly never ever ever 0:09:24.440 --> 0:09:27.320 try to do this because it's very easy to die 0:09:27.920 --> 0:09:31.280 trying this as a stunt. Conscientious and self Actually, I 0:09:31.320 --> 0:09:33.880 think the fact that sixteen people have gone over, eleven 0:09:34.040 --> 0:09:36.520 of which have survived. In the nine years two people 0:09:36.960 --> 0:09:40.840 went over and survived twice, correct, which but five people died, 0:09:40.920 --> 0:09:43.160 So yeah, and horribly too. We'll get to some of 0:09:43.160 --> 0:09:45.720 those guys, right, So why don't we start at the beginning. 0:09:45.760 --> 0:09:48.439 The first person to go over Niagara Falls on purpose, 0:09:48.880 --> 0:09:51.520 as you said, was a woman Annie Edson Taylor in 0:09:52.240 --> 0:09:54.200 one right, Yeah, which is pretty funny to think about 0:09:54.200 --> 0:09:57.320 way back then. But yeah, she did this actually on 0:09:57.440 --> 0:10:00.440 purpose as a stunt to try and make money. Yeah, 0:10:00.480 --> 0:10:04.079 fame and fortune is pretty much the dominant reason people 0:10:04.160 --> 0:10:06.800 have for um going over the faults, right, right, And 0:10:06.840 --> 0:10:10.520 she was sixty three at the time, spinster. Yeah, she 0:10:10.920 --> 0:10:14.199 didn't use listerine. She claims she was forty three and 0:10:14.240 --> 0:10:15.520 got away with that, so she must have been in 0:10:15.559 --> 0:10:19.120 pretty decent shape. But she packed a pickle barrel with 0:10:19.200 --> 0:10:22.680 a made it air tight and packed it with pillows 0:10:22.760 --> 0:10:25.600 and and stuffed herself in there and made it over, 0:10:25.720 --> 0:10:28.280 survived and did not make a lot of money off 0:10:28.280 --> 0:10:30.600 of it. She was she was smart enough to um 0:10:31.240 --> 0:10:35.240 compress air to make it buoyant. And um she also 0:10:35.280 --> 0:10:38.800 took her cat with her, Yeah, and they both lived. Yeah. 0:10:38.800 --> 0:10:40.840 I guy took his turtle later on to someone else. 0:10:40.880 --> 0:10:44.200 We'll get to him, sonny boy. Um, But yeah, she 0:10:44.240 --> 0:10:46.240 went over. She and the cat made it. But yeah, 0:10:46.280 --> 0:10:48.760 the fortune and fame that she saw it was elusive 0:10:49.400 --> 0:10:53.040 she found and penniless, which is just sad. Yeah, I 0:10:53.040 --> 0:10:55.520 don't like that term. Though, no one's penniless. I'm sure 0:10:55.559 --> 0:10:57.640 someone does. But did she really not have a penny? 0:10:57.800 --> 0:10:59.880 Come on, I don't know, I mean openny and not 0:11:00.040 --> 0:11:01.920 teno one? Was? That's a lot? You know, they should 0:11:01.920 --> 0:11:05.079 just say she died poor. Okay, that's just a personal 0:11:05.120 --> 0:11:09.640 piece or broke, yeah, busted, Well her barrel busted. Okay, 0:11:09.720 --> 0:11:14.040 So who's up next? Um, let's see, how about well 0:11:14.080 --> 0:11:17.559 the first man was ten years later, Bobby Leech. Yeah, 0:11:17.760 --> 0:11:19.439 he's kind of a stunt man, right, Yeah, he's a 0:11:19.480 --> 0:11:24.280 circus guy. And uh, July nineteen eleven, he got into 0:11:24.280 --> 0:11:28.240 a steel barrel and uh floated, you know, eighteen minutes 0:11:28.280 --> 0:11:34.360 downstream and went over and survived. He broke both his 0:11:34.600 --> 0:11:37.480 jaw and both of his kneecaps and spent six months 0:11:37.480 --> 0:11:40.960 in the hospital. Not fun, No, But the the horrible 0:11:41.040 --> 0:11:43.800 ironic twist to Mr Leach's life is that fifteen years 0:11:43.880 --> 0:11:46.480 later he slipped on an orange peel, broke his leg, 0:11:46.679 --> 0:11:49.760 it became infected, it was amputated, and two months later 0:11:49.800 --> 0:11:52.720 he was dead of complications ultimately from slipping on an 0:11:52.720 --> 0:11:54.640 orange peel. Right, and if that had been been an appeal, 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:57.280 it would be a three Stooges episode would have been 0:11:57.360 --> 0:12:01.840 just painful to read, right it was. So he lived 0:12:01.880 --> 0:12:05.240 but perished in a odd accident, which is interesting. You 0:12:05.240 --> 0:12:08.079 know me check, I have um some fairly grizzly tastes, 0:12:08.200 --> 0:12:11.800 all right. Um, So I think the guy with the 0:12:11.840 --> 0:12:16.880 coolest death of the Niagara Falls tragedies was Charles Stevens. 0:12:17.440 --> 0:12:20.439 He went over in Actually haven't heard this guy, so 0:12:20.600 --> 0:12:22.920 you haven't laid on you. Um. He went over in 0:12:22.960 --> 0:12:26.400 an oak barrel, all right. Uh. And it wasn't modified 0:12:26.559 --> 0:12:29.320 or reinforced in any way, but he modified the interior. 0:12:29.480 --> 0:12:32.400 He had an anvil at the bottom serves ballast so 0:12:32.440 --> 0:12:35.520 it would stay upright. Um. And he had his feet 0:12:35.559 --> 0:12:39.800 strapped to the anvil for some reason. Um. And uh, 0:12:39.880 --> 0:12:42.760 he had arm straps inside the barrel, so he was 0:12:42.880 --> 0:12:46.000 his arms were in there he he went over. Um. 0:12:46.120 --> 0:12:49.640 Apparently when he hit the bottom, the anvil broke through 0:12:49.679 --> 0:12:52.199 the bottom of the barrel and dragged him down with it. 0:12:52.559 --> 0:12:54.599 And all they ever found of Mr Stevens was his 0:12:54.720 --> 0:12:57.440 arm still in the arm strap inside. He was left 0:12:57.440 --> 0:13:01.160 of the oak barrel. I kid, do not planning. Yeah, 0:13:01.200 --> 0:13:04.040 that's yeah, it was. It actually was his his whole 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:06.240 his whole stunt was racked with poor planning other people 0:13:06.280 --> 0:13:09.160 who had already gone over, um, and who who lived 0:13:09.160 --> 0:13:12.240 around the river. And we're kind of old sea dogs. Um, 0:13:12.400 --> 0:13:15.720 we're begging the guy to um, you know, test it out, 0:13:15.920 --> 0:13:19.000 give it a try, reinforce it. Um, just do take 0:13:19.040 --> 0:13:21.280 all these extra precautinus. He just wouldn't do it. So 0:13:22.240 --> 0:13:24.040 as soon as you said he had an anvil in 0:13:24.080 --> 0:13:28.000 the bottom, I kind of foresaw that coming, Yeah, Josh. 0:13:28.040 --> 0:13:30.760 Another one that I thought was really sad um that 0:13:30.880 --> 0:13:35.040 parish was George Status in nineteen thirty. He is what 0:13:35.120 --> 0:13:39.040 Peter Tosh would call him mystic man. Yes, he was 0:13:39.160 --> 0:13:41.640 chef in New York. He went over with his pet turtle. 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:45.480 Sunny Boys talked about a hundred year old turtle named 0:13:45.480 --> 0:13:49.400 sunny Boy, supposedly, and Um, this one's really sad because 0:13:50.000 --> 0:13:55.360 he actually went over, perhaps successfully, and was stuck behind 0:13:55.360 --> 0:13:59.000 the curtain of water and eighteen hours and no one 0:13:59.000 --> 0:14:00.800 could get to him. And they don't know for sure 0:14:00.840 --> 0:14:03.400 whether he survived the fall. But if he did, that 0:14:03.440 --> 0:14:06.240 means he spent um, you know, three to eight hours 0:14:06.280 --> 0:14:09.559 is all the air he had and he actually perhaps 0:14:10.080 --> 0:14:13.000 suffocated suffocated. What I took from it was that they 0:14:13.000 --> 0:14:16.120 examined him and found that yeah, he he most likely 0:14:16.160 --> 0:14:19.920 had suffocated, but the turtle made it. Yeah, sunny Boy 0:14:19.960 --> 0:14:22.640 made it. And the whole reason Mr Stapa Kiss took 0:14:22.680 --> 0:14:26.200 Sonny boy Um was so that if he died, Sunny 0:14:26.200 --> 0:14:29.440 Boy could tell the tale. And Sunny Boy never really 0:14:29.440 --> 0:14:32.360 said anything talking turtle. I think that says at all 0:14:32.680 --> 0:14:36.200 mystic man. Do you want me to do another one? Okay? 0:14:36.440 --> 0:14:39.440 I love this guy, Nathan Boya. He's the first African 0:14:39.480 --> 0:14:42.040 American to go over, and he was also he kind 0:14:42.080 --> 0:14:44.400 of bucked the trend of fame and fortune. Uh. The 0:14:44.440 --> 0:14:48.160 reason Mr Boya went over was because it was something 0:14:48.280 --> 0:14:50.920 he just had to do. He felt he had to do. Really, 0:14:51.120 --> 0:14:53.840 that's what he said. Yeah. So he goes over in 0:14:53.920 --> 0:14:57.200 nineteen sixty one, and this guy was pretty sharp. He 0:14:57.280 --> 0:14:59.960 took an oxygen tank with him filled with thirty hour 0:15:00.080 --> 0:15:02.720 is of air. Um. I believe he had a rebreather 0:15:03.320 --> 0:15:06.280 and he went over in a h I think it 0:15:06.360 --> 0:15:09.160 was a metal ball. He dubbed the Plunge of Sphere. Right, 0:15:09.160 --> 0:15:12.640 he did have a rebreather which removes carbon dioxide. Yeah, 0:15:12.640 --> 0:15:15.720 it's like scuba exactly. Yeah. So Um, he went over 0:15:15.760 --> 0:15:19.160 in the falls. He went over the falls. Uh he Um. 0:15:19.160 --> 0:15:22.000 He was successful. I think he got a little banged up, 0:15:22.040 --> 0:15:24.120 but not not too much. And he was also the 0:15:24.160 --> 0:15:27.880 first person to be fined for breaking a law that 0:15:27.920 --> 0:15:31.400 was enacted um a couple of years earlier after another 0:15:31.400 --> 0:15:34.680 guy died. Um that it's that makes it that made 0:15:34.680 --> 0:15:37.880 it illegal to go over Niagara Falls on purpose. So 0:15:37.960 --> 0:15:40.440 he paid a hundred bucks, which in two thousand eight 0:15:40.560 --> 0:15:45.280 dollars I looked up with seven five and today's dollars. Yes, 0:15:45.480 --> 0:15:47.200 as a find. But he was the first one to 0:15:47.240 --> 0:15:49.600 ever be fined for doing it, because I believe the 0:15:49.640 --> 0:15:52.720 find today is ten grand or more, yeah or more. Yeah. 0:15:52.760 --> 0:15:54.960 And it's performing a stunt without a license. Is that 0:15:54.960 --> 0:15:56.880 what it is? Yeah? And they've never given a license 0:15:56.920 --> 0:15:59.960 to anybody to do it, which it just seems like 0:16:00.000 --> 0:16:04.640 a bad idea because that's a lawsuit right there. Um. 0:16:04.800 --> 0:16:06.920 Do you want to skip ahead to the most recent 0:16:07.400 --> 0:16:10.760 and most amazing or did you have another one? You? Well, 0:16:10.880 --> 0:16:12.240 we can go back. Where do we have to do 0:16:12.280 --> 0:16:14.600 it chronologically? No, we don't. I want to talk about 0:16:14.680 --> 0:16:18.040 the most recent two thousand three. Well, let's do it, 0:16:18.160 --> 0:16:22.640 because this guy went over without anything, and he's the 0:16:22.680 --> 0:16:25.920 only person known to go in on purpose without any 0:16:25.960 --> 0:16:29.480 kind of flotation, no barrel, no nothing, just close on 0:16:29.520 --> 0:16:32.600 his back. And there's been speculation over the years whether 0:16:32.640 --> 0:16:36.240 or not he was suicidal or um wanted fame and fortune. 0:16:36.480 --> 0:16:40.640 He apparently said that he was in fact depressed for years, 0:16:40.800 --> 0:16:43.120 and his friends came out later and said, yeah, he 0:16:43.200 --> 0:16:46.200 talked about trying to commit suicide, and so when he 0:16:46.200 --> 0:16:48.240 went to Nagre, he literally stood on the other side 0:16:48.240 --> 0:16:51.480 of the rail and was contemplating it, and a woman 0:16:51.800 --> 0:16:55.080 behind him, who he did not know, sarcastically said, so, 0:16:55.120 --> 0:16:59.480 what are you gonna do? Jump? And he said, yes, ma'am, 0:16:59.520 --> 0:17:01.400 I think I will. And he did so, and he 0:17:01.480 --> 0:17:04.760 jumped in, and just a few moments later plunged over 0:17:04.800 --> 0:17:08.199 a horseshoe falls and said that it felt like I 0:17:08.240 --> 0:17:11.480 was being swallowed by a living organism. I was flying 0:17:11.520 --> 0:17:13.439 straight down at a tremendous speed, and the force was 0:17:13.480 --> 0:17:15.720 so great I thought it would rip my head off. 0:17:15.840 --> 0:17:18.359 Then it became dark, my ears popped, and I was 0:17:18.400 --> 0:17:21.240 trapped under forty ft of water. Was beating the living 0:17:21.880 --> 0:17:24.760 heck out of me. No, he didn't, and I couldn't 0:17:24.800 --> 0:17:27.159 even get to the surface, and I remember thinking, well, Niagara, 0:17:27.240 --> 0:17:29.159 I think you've beaten me. And he said, then he 0:17:29.200 --> 0:17:30.920 was pushed forward and felt the sun on his face. 0:17:32.200 --> 0:17:35.640 What's the guy's name, Kirk Jones? Cool? So Kirk survived. 0:17:35.680 --> 0:17:38.040 He told a story to Outside magazine among others, and 0:17:38.400 --> 0:17:41.400 um apparently said it filled them with the will to live. 0:17:41.520 --> 0:17:43.560 So I would imagine, so good for him, kind of 0:17:43.600 --> 0:17:46.439 like surviving a plane crash. Right, yeah, exactly, except not 0:17:46.720 --> 0:17:50.000 quite well yeah, maybe the same, you know, part of 0:17:50.000 --> 0:17:52.119 the brain, Yeah, I think so. So, okay, can we 0:17:52.119 --> 0:17:56.760 go back one because there was one other one favorite mentioned? Um, okay, 0:17:56.760 --> 0:17:58.440 so can we go back? And can I do one 0:17:58.440 --> 0:18:01.199 more venture back in time? Sure, we'll go back to 0:18:03.000 --> 0:18:05.000 heady days at the end of the Reagan era, my 0:18:05.119 --> 0:18:09.639 junior year in high school when still wow, really, I 0:18:09.680 --> 0:18:12.520 know you're always marveled at my like five years older 0:18:12.520 --> 0:18:15.320 than you get over. Okay, alright, sorry, um so. So 0:18:15.520 --> 0:18:17.520 it was the end of the Reagan era, but Nancy 0:18:17.560 --> 0:18:21.520 Reagan's influence was still very clearly um imprinted upon the 0:18:21.600 --> 0:18:26.440 National psyche. In particular, two guys named Peter Debon Hardi 0:18:26.920 --> 0:18:30.840 and Jeffrey Petkevich, right, and they decided that they were 0:18:30.840 --> 0:18:33.280 going to go over the falls in a barrel, and 0:18:33.480 --> 0:18:35.840 um they did, and I think a ten ft long 0:18:36.200 --> 0:18:41.000 metal barrel that was completely enclosed. And the reason that 0:18:41.040 --> 0:18:44.200 they wanted to do this was because they wanted to 0:18:44.240 --> 0:18:47.080 make a statement against drugs. And if you look at 0:18:47.080 --> 0:18:49.080 their barrel, there's a picture of it in the article, 0:18:49.200 --> 0:18:54.040 it says drugs kill, right, So what they're what they're 0:18:54.080 --> 0:18:57.639 saying clearly is that it's your it's smarter to go 0:18:57.680 --> 0:18:59.679 over Niagara Falls in a barrel than it is to 0:18:59.720 --> 0:19:03.400 do rugs. The problem is is that's just wholly untrue, 0:19:03.640 --> 0:19:06.800 which is why there's a two million illicit drug users 0:19:07.000 --> 0:19:09.399 worldwide and only sixteen people who've ever gone over the 0:19:09.520 --> 0:19:13.119 ragor falls on purpose and were surely endorsing anything. But yeah, 0:19:13.359 --> 0:19:16.399 going over the falls in a barrel is virtual suicide. 0:19:16.440 --> 0:19:18.480 It is that kind of struck me. That reminded me. 0:19:18.480 --> 0:19:20.679 Actually there was the other guy that was trying to 0:19:20.920 --> 0:19:23.960 raise awareness for the homeless. Yeah, what was that. Yeah, 0:19:23.960 --> 0:19:26.240 he went over in a jet ski and the plan 0:19:26.400 --> 0:19:28.879 was to leap off the jet ski and his he 0:19:28.920 --> 0:19:30.920 had a rocket parachute that was going to open. But 0:19:31.240 --> 0:19:34.360 there was some kind of malfunction and he died. I'd 0:19:34.440 --> 0:19:38.639 say the worst of all was Jesse Sharpe. He didn't 0:19:38.640 --> 0:19:42.320 even have a parachute, and he didn't wear a helmet, 0:19:42.320 --> 0:19:44.040 and he didn't wear a life preserver, and he went 0:19:44.080 --> 0:19:46.240 over in a kayak on purpose because he wanted a 0:19:46.320 --> 0:19:49.240 job in the stunt industry. So I feel very badly 0:19:49.280 --> 0:19:52.640 for Jesse's family. Yeah he perished, Oh yeah as well. Yeah. 0:19:52.800 --> 0:19:54.720 I think they found his kayak and that was it, right, 0:19:54.760 --> 0:19:59.280 So I think the lesson the takeaway, Josh is uh, daredevil, 0:20:00.240 --> 0:20:03.240 legitimate business. Uh, going over the falls in a barrel 0:20:03.400 --> 0:20:06.520 not a good idea? No, And and stay off drugs kids, 0:20:07.359 --> 0:20:10.800 So chuck Audible dot com time, Yeah, our sponsors, and 0:20:10.800 --> 0:20:12.879 then maybe a little listener mail. Can we can go 0:20:13.280 --> 0:20:15.919 to that very special listener mail I'm looking forward to 0:20:16.400 --> 0:20:21.560 And that means it's time for listener mail, not only 0:20:21.720 --> 0:20:25.720 listener mail, Josh, this is hi Ku theater, you know, 0:20:25.840 --> 0:20:28.679 Can we get a special Hiku theater sound effect? Wellbviously, 0:20:28.800 --> 0:20:30.160 I bet it's in there by the time we listen 0:20:30.160 --> 0:20:33.800 to this. I have seven high kus and they're short 0:20:34.160 --> 0:20:37.119 because they're high cous and we get them from our listeners. 0:20:37.160 --> 0:20:39.359 Sometimes they're in the form of corrections. Sometimes they're just 0:20:39.400 --> 0:20:42.080 pool hikus. Okay. Uh. This one was related to the 0:20:42.119 --> 0:20:47.560 Airprane Airprane airplane crash from Sarah and Loan, which I liked. Hello, 0:20:47.680 --> 0:20:50.920 that's my seat? Sorry? Can I squeeze by you? Wow? 0:20:51.040 --> 0:20:54.760 This is awkward? Okay? Which is do you show them 0:20:54.840 --> 0:20:57.840 the front of your body or the rear of your body? Again? 0:20:57.880 --> 0:21:00.640 It comes back to fight club a lot. That's right, Uh, 0:21:00.680 --> 0:21:03.480 workplace boredom. I will follow this under that one finger 0:21:03.560 --> 0:21:07.920 on keyboard carpal tunnel sets in slow. My cubicle life 0:21:08.560 --> 0:21:12.800 is from a boardworker Brianna j O'Sullivan. It's depressing Brianna 0:21:13.160 --> 0:21:15.560 Maggie Savage of Dover, New Hampshire. Sin this one about 0:21:15.560 --> 0:21:20.000 the hypoallergenic cats episode Cats and dogs are swell to 0:21:20.160 --> 0:21:23.960