First Person to Go Over Niagara Falls in a Barrel and Survive……
October 24, 1901……..
Annie Edson Taylor makes the plunge on what was her 63rd birthday. She had tested the barrel by sending it over the falls with a cat inside. The cat survived. Taylor used a custom-made barrel, constructed of oak and iron and padded with a mattress. After the lid was screwed on, a bicycle tire pump was used to compress the air in the barrel. Except for a small gash on her head, she was unharmed in her adventure.
Halloween……
October 25, 1978…….
The movie Halloween premieres. It was directed and scored by John Carpenter and starred Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis in her film debut. Made for $300,000, it grossed more than $65 million in its initial release, making it one of the most successful independent films of all time. Michael Myers’ iconic mask was created from a Star Trek Captain Kirk mask purchased for $1.98 from a costume shop. The eye holes were widened and the mask was spray-painted a bluish white.
First Major Man-Made U.S. Waterway……
October 26, 1825…….
Construction of the Erie Canal is completed, connecting Lake Erie and the Hudson River. Construction had begun in 1817. Called “The Nation’s First Superhighway”, it was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, and greatly reduced the cost of transporting goods. At 363 miles (584 km) long, the canal was the second-longest in the world (after the Grand Canal in China).