Niagara Falls is a huge waterfall located on the US-Canada border. Its height is 51 meters (167 ft ). Throughout the year the water flows in the waterfalls in tremendous quantity and intensity, making the place a site that attracts millions of tourists every year.
But, on March 29, 1848, an extraordinary thing happened.
The water flow of the Niagara River was stopped for a few hours because of ice formed up the Niagara River.
The rushing river that is dangerous to approach and not to mention entering has stopped its flow.
People went into the water to take out objects that had fallen on them there in the past.
The phenomenon that happened is called the "Ice Bridge." Sometimes, during very cold and long winters, ice bridges form under waterfalls. The ice bridges slow down and weaken the flow of water, but a complete halt to the falls has never happened, except on this date in 1848.
Some interesting facts about Niagara Falls
Until 1912 visitors to the waterfalls were allowed to stand on the ice bridge and look at the waterfalls, until in 1912 the ice bridge broke and three tourists died.
Every year about 15 million tourists visit Niagara Falls.
Niagara Falls is known as the world capital of honeymooners.
If you want to get close to the Niagara Falls and get wet from them, you can take a boat called the "Maid of the Mist".
If you want to look at Niagara Falls from above you can climb The Skylon Tower, a skyscraper located near Niagara Falls in Ontario, Canada. This is the tallest observation tower overlooking the falls.
If you want to sleep near Niagara, you can sleep in the nearby town of Niagara on the Lake in the northern part of Niagara, in the territory of the state of Canada. It is one of the most beautiful towns in Canada.
In 1825, Mordechai Manuel Noah sought to establish on the southern side of the falls, on the island of Grand Island, a state for Jews to be integrated within the United States. He bought a third of the island and was given an option to buy the other two-thirds, laid the cornerstone for a settlement called Ararat, but the Jews did not respond to his call to settle the island. A few years later, Noah came to the conclusion that the Jews should settle in the Land of Israel and nowhere else. In 1837, decades before Herzl, he wrote a letter to Western governments requesting assistance from Israel by the Jews.
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| Annie Edson Taylor, Link: Wikipedia |
On October 24, 1901, on her 63rd birthday, Annie Edson Taylor, an American teacher, set out for Niagara Falls to fall from them in a barrel. She is the first person who managed to survive the fall. She did it to make money to secure her financial future, but did not gain much from it. She fell at the falls in an oak and iron barrel with a heart-shaped pillow inside, and came out alive and well, except for a small wound on her head.
Half of the water in Niagara Falls is used to produce hydroelectric energy (electricity generated by water movement) by the governments of the United States and Canada. The Niagara Falls area is the area where the most hydroelectric energy is produced in the world. (Source: Wikipedia)
March 29 is also Piano Day and Smoke and Mirrors Day