No blame was attributed at the time to either Blondin or his manager; the judge said that the rope manufacturer had a lot to answer for. Jean Lussier goes over the falls inside a 6-foot rubber ball lined with oxygen-filled rubber tubes. While in the U.S. he married a second wife, Charlotte Lawrence, with whom he had five children: Adele (b. They survive with minor injuries. He traversed the long rope on a bicycle expressly made for the occasion. After the tightrope had been fixed in place, he started gathering a crowd to watch his daring and dangerous feat. [citation needed], In October of 1869, Blondin appeared in London at the Crystal Palace Harvest Fete. The organiser of the event, a Mr. Kirby, said he would never have another one like it. He makes his way across a 3/4-inch steel cable in just 6 minutes, 33.5 seconds. The Niagara Reservation State Park opens, attracting 750,000 visitors. ", Register of Marriages for Brentford registration district, Oct–Dec 1895, volume 3a, p. 235: Gravelet, Jean Francois, & James, Katherine, Register of Deaths for Chelsea registration district, July–Sept 1901, volume 1a, p. 243: Blondin, Katherine G, 36, Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography, "Ever wondered what the Ladywood Middleway statue is? His most difficult crossing takes place on August 19, when he manages to carry his manager over the rope on his back. July 11, 1920 Roger Hudson reflects on a photograph of Blondin, the tightrope walker whose crossings of Niagara Falls became ever more bizarre. FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. His bruised body is not recovered until the next day. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. 1867 Maria Spelterina, a 23-year-old Italian woman, becomes the only woman to cross the gorge by tightrope. Roger Hudson reflects on a photograph of Blondin, the tightrope walker whose crossings of Niagara Falls became ever more bizarre. He used twinned cameras to take almost identical pictures of the same scene which, when viewed in a stereoscope, produced a 3D effect. His superior skill and grace, as well as the originality of the settings of his acts, made him a popular favourite. Canadians Peter DeBernardi and Geoffrey Petkovich become the first team to go over the falls together, enclosed face to face in a single barrel. [4] He especially owed his celebrity and fortune to his idea to cross the Niagara Gorge (on the Canada–US border) on a tightrope, 1,100 ft (340 m) long, 3.25 in (8.3 cm) in diameter and 160 ft (49 m) above the water, near the location of the current Rainbow Bridge. June 18, 1995 Not only the first woman but the first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel, Annie Edison Taylor is a poor widow when she arrives in Niagara Falls in 1901. July 4, 1930 [21] In reporting on the fall of a woman from a tightrope at an 1869 performance of Pablo Fanque's Circus in Bolton, the Illustrated London News described the tightrope walker, Madame Caroline, as a "female Blondin". Summer 1859 Franciscan monk and explorer Louis Hennepin becomes the first European explorer to encounter Niagara Falls. A bench warrant for the arrest of Blondin and his manager was issued when they did not appear at a further trial, having returned to the US. While he was performing, the rope broke, which led to the collapse of the scaffolding. 1866). In 1895, Blondin married again, this time in the United Kingdom. Do not attempt to do any balancing yourself. 1861), Henry Coleman (b. “Come one! The 15th person since 1901 to attempt the feat, he does not survive. Those he took of Blondin were by far the most commercially successful, selling in tens of thousands. Charles Stephens, the second man to go over the falls, takes the plunge in a 600-pound oak barrel. Sadly, however, Stathakis’ barrel is caught behind the falls for 14 hours. French acrobat and tightrope walker Charles Blondin was the first ever person to cross a section of Niagara Falls on a 1000 foot long tightrope in 1859 Advertisement Share or comment on this article: [16] Charlotte died in 1888. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! October 12, 1892 1678 Blondin was not injured, but two workers who were on the scaffolding fell to their deaths. This is one of the images taken by William England for the London Stereoscopic Company on his visit to the USA and Canada, like that of Washington’s Mausoleum reproduced in inFocus last February. Adventurer George Stathakis goes over the falls in a 10-foot, 1-ton wooden barrel. [11], While he was living in England, he and Charlotte had two more children, Henry, born c. 1863, and Charlotte Mary Janet, baptized on 25 April 1866. Niagara Falls. The famous Blondin made his first crossing of Niagara Falls on June 30th, 1859, watched, it was calculated, by 100,000 people. Italian tightrope walker Maria Spelterini crosses Niagara Falls in July 1876. She survives, but “the heroine of Horseshoe Falls” doesn’t end up with the financial windfall she expects. For other uses, see. In the future, the NPC plans to issue permits just “once in a generation,” or roughly every 20 years. ", "The Blondin Memorial Trust – A Biography", American Heritage magazine article on Blondin, Find images at the Historic Niagara Digital Collections at Niagara Falls Public Library by using keyword 'Blondin', https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Charles_Blondin&oldid=986047990, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference, Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from Appleton's Cyclopedia, Articles with dead external links from November 2016, Articles with permanently dead external links, Articles with unsourced statements from June 2020, Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This article includes content copied from the essay ", This page was last edited on 29 October 2020, at 13:56. [16] It is not known what happened to his French family after he went to the United States. [7], In 1861, Blondin first appeared in London, at the Crystal Palace, turning somersaults on stilts on a rope stretched across the central transept 70 feet (21 m) from the ground. The pictures England took on the same trip of railways, docks, bridges and cities were rather more important since they enabled the Old World to see for the first time how the New could match it blow for blow. [20] So popular had tightrope walking become, that one Sydney resident wrote to the Sydney Morning Herald to complain of "the Blondin business" that saw people walking on high wires wherever the opportunity arose. An investigation was held, and the broken rope (reportedly 2 inches (5 cm) in diameter and 5 inches (13 cm) in circumference) examined. The thundering sound of the pounding water drowning out all other sounds as you watch a man step onto the rope and walk across! The only comparable earlier pictorial exploitation of a sensational event was during the ballooning craze of the 1780s in England and France, when countless prints of the first flights by humans were produced. September 27, 1989 July 15, 1885 His body is never recovered. [3] On 6 September 1873, Blondin crossed Edgbaston Reservoir in Birmingham. Blondin died of diabetes at his "Niagara House" in Ealing, London, on 22 February 1897, at age 72 and was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery. He was reckoned to have crossed Niagara 300 times by his death, in bed in Ealing in 1897, and to have walked 10,000 miles on his various ropes. For example, there were at least five people working with variations of the Blondin name in Sydney in the 1880s, the most famous of whom was Henri L'Estrange—"the Australian Blondin". Robert Overacker tries to go over the falls on a jet ski. She works as a Niagara street vendor for 20 years and dies penniless. He noted that he had seen one walking on a wire in Liverpool Street in the city with a child strapped to his back. Blondin was born on 28 February 1824 in Hesdin, Pas-de-Calais, France. Here his manager Harry Colcord is carried piggy-back, exhorted beforehand by Blondin: Look up, Harry … You are no longer Colcord you are Blondin … be a part of me, mind, body and soul. The birthday is given as "the 24th of February" in: Grave of Jean François Gravelet – Blondin, Probate Index for 1897: "GRAVELET otherwise BLONDIN Jean Francois of Niagara-house Ealing Middlesex artist-acrobat died 22 February 1897 Probate London 22 March to Katherine Gravelet widow Henry Coleman Gravelet gentleman and Henry Levy solicitor Effects £1832 16s. Answer 1 of 2: I read on this site (I believe) about a tightrope walker that performs over the street crossing between the Hilton and the Casino. The famous Blondin made his first crossing of Niagara Falls on June 30th, 1859, watched, it was calculated, by 100,000 people. Just days before, Peer had made several successful trips, and authorities determine that he died after a botched attempt at a nighttime crossing. [1][2] His birth name was Jean-François Gravelet, though he was known by many other names and nicknames: Charles Blondin, Jean-François Blondin, Chevalier Blondin, and The Great Blondin. Barrel plunges, tightrope walks and jet skis—Niagara Falls has seen a plethora of daring stunts. July 4, 1928 A political cartoon in Frank Leslie's Budget of Fun took up this quotation on 1 September 1864 depicting Lincoln on a tightrope, pushing a wheelbarrow and carrying two men on his back—Navy Secretary Gideon Welles and War Secretary Edwin Stanton—while "John Bull", Napoleon III, Jefferson Davis (representing England, France, and the Confederacy, respectively), and Generals Grant, Lee and Sherman (representing the military) looked on, among others. 1887 [8], The following year, Blondin was back at the same venue in Dublin, this time performing 100 feet (30 m) above the ground. Since then, the regulatory body that governs the falls, the Niagara Parks Commission (NPC), has refused to issue permits for stunts. With only enough air to live for three hours, Stathakis dies before he is rescued, but his 105-year-old pet turtle, Sonny Boy, survives the trip. Twenty years after the last crossing, Niagara Falls claims its first—and only—tightrope victim when the body of Stephen Peer, a local Ontario native, is discovered. [18][19], During his lifetime, Blondin's name became so synonymous with tightrope walking that many employed the name "Blondin" to describe others in the sport. He married three times and had eight children. [24], "Blondin" redirects here. His name became synonymous with tightrope walking. Soon after his plunge, the raft’s inner tubes begin popping to the surface of the river, but there is no sign of Hill. They will make the journey several times that summer. The 63-year-old (who claims to be 42) sees the stunt as a way to make money. Can you imagine a tightrope stretched over a quarter of a mile and spanning the breadth of Niagara Falls? If you do we will both go to our death. The Niagara Falls Tightrope Illustration of Faith. 1867 Charles Blondin (born Jean François Gravelet, 28 February 1824 – 22 February 1897) was a French Charles Blondin (born Jean François Gravelet, 28 February 1824 – 22 February 1897) was a French tightrope walker and acrobat. If I sway, sway with me. [3] He performed in September 1861 in Edinburgh, Scotland, at the Royal Botanic Gardens (then called the Experimental Gardens) on Inverleith Row. Does anyone know anything about this ? 1854), Edward (b. During an event in Dublin in 1860, the rope on which he was walking broke and two workers were killed, although Blondin was not injured. [18] Although much younger, Katherine survived him by only four years, dying of cancer in 1901 at the age of 36. [1] He was encouraged by William Niblo to perform with the Ravel troupe in New York City and was subsequently part proprietor of a circus. [10] A statue built in 1992 on the nearby Ladywood Middleway marks his feat. [23], During the run-up to the 1864 United States presidential election, Abraham Lincoln compared himself to "Blondin on the tightrope, with all that was valuable to America in the wheelbarrow he was pushing before him."