Natural Wonder: Niagara Falls Quiz

Niagara Falls isn't just one waterfall — it's three. The largest of the three waterfalls is Horseshoe Falls. Ninety percent of the water that goes over the falls, goes over Horseshoe Falls. Bridal Veil Falls is the smallest of the three, created by a natural separation in the American Falls.

The falls, about 12,300 years in the making, began to form when glaciers were melting at the end of the last ice age, during the Cenozoic Era.

The Niagara River flows north.

Niagara Falls is shared by the U.S. (Niagara Falls, New York) and Canada (Niagara Falls, Ontario). Horseshoe Falls is on the Canadian side, and American Falls is in, yup, America. Bridal Veil Falls is also on the American side of the border.

Lakes Erie, Huron, Michigan and Superior, all drain into the Niagara River before they empty into the fifth Great Lake, Lake Ontario.

It's estimated that 60 tons of dissolved minerals plunge over Niagara Falls every 60 seconds. Minerals dissolved primarily from limestone give the water its green color.

Through the work of erosion, slides, rockfalls and the natural wear on the rocks under the surface of the Niagara River, the brink of Niagara Falls is worn back about 1 foot per year. Before the 1950s, the brink of the falls moved as much as 3 feet every year.

Onguiaahra is a word of the Iroquoian-speaking North American Neutral Confederacy, who lived near what is now western New York and Ontario, Canada. It means "a thundering noise."

Yes, in fact it has. In 1848, ice from Lake Erie jammed the Niagara River, causing the falls to cease for 30 hours.

The island in the middle of the Falls, between Horseshoe and Bridal Veil, is called Goat Island.

The first documented account of Niagara Falls from an eyewitness happened in 1683. French priest Father Louis Hennepin was impressed and overwhelmed during a 1678 expedition. Samuel de Champlain and Rene Brehan de Galinee both wrote about Niagara Falls (in 1604 and 1669, respectively) before Hennepin. However, neither of them actually saw the falls, and they relied upon information from local tribes.

In 1901, Annie Edson Taylor, a 63-year-old teacher, became the first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel. Bobby Leach was the second. And although Jean Lussier, a native of Quebec, did it before him in a rubber ball, Karel Soucek was the first Canadian to barrel over the falls.

Between 1901, when Annie Edson Taylor did it first, and 1995, 15 people have taken the plunge over the falls.

The river below Niagara Falls averages 170 feet deep.

Thrill seekers have plunged over the falls in a 6-foot rubber ball (Jean Lussier), a kayak (Jesse Sharp) and by jet ski (Robert Overacker).

Above the falls, the rapids have been clocked at 25 miles per hour. (Over the brink they can move as fast as 68 miles per hour.)

No, but not for Mother Nature's lack of trying. During long periods of frigid weather in 2015, the falls appeared frozen in place, but water continued to flow under that ice. Even back in 1848 when ice jams were a threat, the falls continued to flow.

In 1960, 7-year-old Roger Woodward, with nothing more than a life preserver, fell over the falls and survived.

The United States Search and Rescue Task Force recommends you enter the water feet first. Tighten your muscles as you fall, and wrap your arms around your head and nose for protection. Before hitting the water, close your eyes and mouth. And don't forget to swim downstream if you're lucky enough to surface.

It was "The Grapes of Wrath" author John Steinbeck who said this.

Marilyn Monroe starred as a honeymooning wife with a roving eye, which threw her and the falls into stardom after much talk about each's assets.

The Maid of the Mist is the name of the sightseeing boat that's been taking tourists to the foot of the falls since 1846.

Frederic Edwin Church, known for his Hudson River School style of landscape painting, painted "Niagara" (housed in the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington).

It opened on July 15, 1885, as the first state park in the United States.

Jean Francois Gravelet, professionally known as "the Great Blondin," crossed the Niagara Gorge on a tightrope on June 30, 1859.

The Whirlpool is a basin formed where the river makes a 90 degree turn. It's located in the Niagara Gorge, which is downstream from Niagara Falls.

The first large-scale hydroelectric generating station, which used a direct current (DC) system, opened in 1895.

In 1896, Niagara Falls was the first to use Nikola Tesla's AC system of electricity to transmit long-distance power.

Hydroelectric power was first sold from the power station in Niagara Falls.

The total power produced and shared by the American and Canadian sides Niagara Falls is close to 4.9 million kilowatts of electricity.