From the Toronto Star:
Death, taxes, Niagara Falls.
In the old days, those were the only certain things in life — or death — according to the river men who patrolled a thunderous Horseshoe Falls before it became somewhat tamed by hydro companies.
During the 19th and 20th centuries, thousands of suicide and accident victims plunged over the 52-metre world-famous cataract and none were known to have survived. Even three of the first six daredevils in protective barrels perished.
Now meet a kinder, gentler Niagara Falls. In the past nine years, three men have miraculously survived the terrible fall — the only three in modern history known to live without a safety device.