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The Day Niagara Falls Ran Dry And People Thought The World Was Ending
One of the world’s greatest wonders suddenly stopped flowing one winter morning more than 150 years ago
Niagara Falls is one of the greatest natural wonders in the world. The vast falls in New York, running along the Canadian border, have attracted slack jawed tourists and observers for many years. However, there was a day in 1848 when the Niagara River went dry, causing the falls to cease its powerful expulsion of water and leading some people to wonder if the end of the world was nigh.
Approximately 3,160 tons of water flow over the edge of Niagara Falls every second. The magnificent wonder of nature began forming around 12,000 years ago with enormous amounts of water being released from melting ice from the Ice Age. It is still very much a work in process, as the annual process of freezing and unfreezing continues to erode the rocks and very gradually shape its path.
The falls are a force of nature of such magnitude that any slight deviation from their normal behavior can be noticeable. This was of course especially true on March 30, 1848 when the Niagara River inexplicably went dry around midnight, causing the falls to be turned off like a giant faucet. Perhaps the most noticeable aspect of this event was…
