Annie Taylor was the first person to conquer the falls in a barrel
October 24th 1901 Annie Taylor was the first person to conquer the falls in a barrel. After climbing inside her airtight wooden barrel, the air pressure was compressed to 30 p.s.i. with a bicycle pump. Though bruised and battered Annie made it, she expected fame and fortune. Annie died in poverty. Charles Stephens (daredevil) Charles Stephens or Demon Barber of Bedminster (1862 – 11 July 1920) was an English barber and daredevil. Stephens was the first person to die attempting to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel. He is also the third person and second man to attempt this stunt. A barber living and working in Bristol, Stephens started performing stunts to support his family, which included his wife, Annie, and their 11 children. Charles moved to Ferndale in the Rhondda Valleys where he worked as a barber. After calling the stunt a "cool commercial proposition", Stephens went over the Horseshoe Falls in an oak barrel, using an anvil for ballast; this proved to be fatal. Steph...