PBS just had a great hour on the history of Niagara Falls. Did you know that The Falls actually started many miles back at the point that lake Tonawanda (holla!) emptied into lake Iriquois? It's eroded for thousands and thousands of years back to where it is today. Did you also know that The American Falls were shut off (I remember this, *sigh*) in 1969 in order to clear out the fallen rocks and make the American Falls "better"? Two suicide corpses and millions of good luck coins were revealed. Unfortunately, it was determined that the debris at the bottom supported The Falls at the top and the idea was scrapped.
Surprisingly (to me) The Falls are now controlled so that during the day only 50% of the volume flows over. At night, it's reduced to 25%. This is to control erosion. There's a movement to let The Falls flow unhindered once a year to let people experience the true power. If they were smart, they would build a huge "event" around this event. I smell a Gay Curcuit Party.
No comments:
Post a Comment