Émile Blondin is a French equilibrist born in 1824 and best known for walking the tightrope over Niagara Falls.
As you know, the reservoir of Niagara Falls occupies a border position between Canada and the United States, or rather, it is the border of New York State and the Canadian province of Ontario. For more than 200 years, the natural monument has attracted millions of tourists every year, and hence money.
In 1859, the enterprising Emile Blondin decided to make an unprecedented spectacle over Niagara Falls. At a height of about 50 meters, the equilibrist pulled a rope 5 centimeters wide and walked along it a distance of 390 meters. The performance attracted many spectators, and Emil realized that this was his gold mine.
For the next two years Blonden walked over Niagara Falls on a thin rope, constantly increasing the intensity of passions. He drank champagne, put on stilts, rolled a cart with him and did many other unimaginable things to attract an audience, because viewers quickly get bored with the same performance. Blonden even decided to carry his assistant on his shoulders. The latter, however, was very frightened, but the desire to make money exceeded his fear.
The mentor forced his assistant to close his eyes and tie them with an opaque tape so that he would not look down and start to panic. The most enthusiastic viewers began to make bets on whether this show would turn out - the fall of both or a successful crossing to another part of the cliff. Those who bet on the Blonin fiasco tried to somehow distract his attention and provoke the equilibrist's mistake. For example, some madmen swayed rope attachments or deliberately shone a mirror into Emil's eyes. This is what made Blondin give up walking over Niagara, he was afraid that someday one of the people who bet on his loss will do something fatal, which will lead to the fall of the acrobat.
The Frenchman decided to organize a tour of Europe, and even stopped in St. Petersburg, where he walked over the parade ground of the Cadet Corps. Moreover, the equilibrist installed a small stove on the rope, on which he cooked eggs, which indescribably amused the crowd.
In the same place Blondin settled one of his imitators - the American tightrope walker Harry Leslie. He also decided to earn extra money from the shows and crossed Niagara Falls on a thin rope. Unfortunately, his career has not been as successful. During one of Leslie's performances, a certain man put a round sum on his fall, and when the stuntman successfully reached the other edge of the cliff, a man from the crowd drew a pistol and almost killed the acrobat. After this incident, Leslie immediately left New York State and did not appear there again. However, a new contender for the fame of Emile Blondin soon appeared, who also failed. A native of Italy, Ugo Ballini, during one of the performances, fell off the rope, but, thanks to the correct entry into the water, survived.
PANFILOVA ARINA
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