Courtesy of Great Big Story, Niagara Falls.

“When I think of the Niagara Falls, I automatically think of Captain Matthew Webb‘s last open water swim,” mused Steven Munatones about the first person who successfully crossed the English Channel in 1875.

According to Daredevils of Niagara Falls, Captain Webb drowned on July 24th 1883 when he tried to cash in on US$2,000 by swimming in the Niagara River Whirlpool Rapids. His body was recovered from the Niagara River four days later and buried at Oakwood Cemetery in Niagara Falls, New York.

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