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The Traveling Salesman Who Went Over Niagara Falls Inside A Rubber Ball And Lived
In 1928, a man who had dreamed of being a daredevil his entire life spent a fortune to ride in an unorthodox vessel over the famed natural wonder
Niagara Falls is one of the great natural spectacles in the world. Over time, it has attracted countless visitors to marvel at its beauty, and a smaller but equally enamored group wanting to tame the great flow of water through stunts. One of these adventurers was a traveling salesman named Jean Lussier, who went over the falls inside of a rubber ball in 1928 and lived to tell about it.
Lussier was likely born in Quebec in 1891. He moved with his family to Springfield, Massachusetts when he was a young child. As a young man, stories about daredevils attempting to ride over Niagara Falls in various devices piqued his interest, and those flames were only fanned when he visited the site during a vacation.
As he grew older, he supported himself as a traveling salesman, but also harbored ambition to become a famous daredevil. Niagara Falls became his target and he moved to Akron, Ohio in order to be close to rubber plants that he tasked with building him the vessel to fulfill his goals.
