“The universe does not behave according to our pre-conceived ideas. It continues to surprise us.” — Stephen Hawking The Fabled Tightrope Walk Tightrope walking has a rich history of fame (and sometimes riches) due to single events that changed the course of the performer’s life. Legendary figures could be born of – quite literally – walking a line between life and death. Spectators could not help but watch as the circus acts began performing in quite precarious situations. Three inches wide, 1,000 feet long, and drooping 60 feet towards the center stretched the tightrope Charles Blondin used to cross the Niagara Falls in 1859. With practically zero room for error, the performer walked across crossed the American-Canadian border simply utilizing a high wire. Blondin executed this act numerous times, adding variations and additive antics with each new approach. It was a daring performance for such an intimidating natural landscape. The Great Lakes account for roughly one-fifth of fresh water, globally – four of which feed into the falls. Excluding the water diverted for hydro-electric energy generation, approximately 700,000 gallons of water flow over Niagara Falls every second.