Bobby Leach, a circus stuntman from Cornwell, England, wanted to be the first to accomplish the Niagara Falls “triple challenge.” The challenge entailed three tasks: a barrel trip through its rapids into a whirlpool, parachuting off the Upper Suspension Bridge into the river above the rapids, and going over the Falls themselves in a barrel. Leach accomplished the first two legs of the challenge in 1908 and 1910. On the afternoon of July 25, 1911, Bobby Leach entered his 8-foot long steel barrel and took the plunge! It took 22 minutes for the barrel to be retrieved, and though Bobby had survived, he had broken his jaw and both kneecaps!
