I'm not going to pretend I have a lot of memories of it, but I did go to Niagara Falls (Canadian side, the BIG, MONSTROUS side) a couple times as a kid. They are quite impressive. A huge amount of water sending spray into the air reaching the high-up overlooks. From up there, the tourist boats at the bottom look tiny. That memory doesn't leave you. The OTHER memory I have is of the museum showcasing barrel-like capsules used to go over the Falls in an attempt to make history, get a world record, or just bragging rights. I didn't think anyone ever survived the attempt - those barrels must have been reproductions, the real ones likely smashed at the bottom - but the Internet tells me different.
The first to make the trip and survive (in 1901) was Annie Edson Taylor, a 63-year-old retired school teacher who built her own "vehicle" with a pickle barrel and a mattress. Minor injuries. Bobby Leach spent 5 months in hospital after going over in a metal barrel in 1911. George Stathakis ALMOST made it in 1930, but his one-ton capsule got stuck in the rocks at the bottom and suffocated before he could be rescued 14 hours later. It wouldn't be until 1989 that two men, Peter DeBernardi and Jeff Petkovich, made another successful attempt, this time in a foam-lined, 10-foot-long steel tank.
In case you're wondering, it's illegal to go over the Falls in ANY contraption, but that law was passed in 1951, so when the comic was published, this was still an option for daredevils.
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