DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME ...

OVER NIAGARA FALLS IN A BARREL

IN 1901, New York-born Annie Edson Taylor became the first person to go over Niagara Falls in a beer barrel and live. The stunt was tested with a cat, which survived. Annie, a widow, pulled off the feat on her 63rd birthday. Of her achievement, she said: ‘I would sooner walk up to the mouth of a cannon, knowing it was going to

blow me to pieces, than make another trip over the Falls.’

STRAITJACKET ESCAPE

AGED just 18, in 2006 Canadian Scott Hammell performed the world’s highest escape when he freed himself from a straitjacket and 50ft of steel chain secured by four padlocks, while suspended upside down by his ankles 7,200ft above Spain, hanging from a balloon. He admitted he was afraid of heights.

TOWER BRIDGE JUMP

AUSTRALIAN motorbike stunt rider Robbie Maddison performed a spectacular leap over an open Tower Bridge in 2009. The London landmark was sealed off and the drawbridge opened at 3am.

DEEPEST MAN ON EARTH

HERBERT Nitsch, a part-time pilot, set the world record for free diving — diving without swimming aids — at 214 metres off the coast of Greece in 2007. Nitsch had to hold his breath for nine minutes.