World � AP Canada from yahoo.com news

Man Survives Historic Plunge Over Niagara

NIAGARA FALLS, Ontario - A man survived a plunge over Niagara Falls with only the clothes on his back, witnesses said, the first person known to have done it without safety devices and lived.

Witnesses described seeing the man float past on his back Monday in the swift Niagara River, then go headfirst over the 180-foot waterfall and pull himself onto the rocks below. The man was hospitalized in stable condition Tuesday. "The guy just basically jumped in the falls," said witness, "I saw him go over. He didn't yell or anything."

"He seemed a bit edgy, kind of jumping around," said another witness. "He walked over to where we were standing and he jumped and slid down on his backside and went over the brink. It was really freaky, actually. He was smiling."

Since 1901, 15 daredevils have taken the plunge in barrels or other devices, including a kayak and a water jet-powered personal watercraft. Ten survived. Only one other person known to have survived a plunge over the Canadian falls without a barrel or other apparatus was a 7-year-old boy wearing a life preserver who was thrown into the water in a 1960 boating accident.

No one has ever survived a trip over the narrower and rockier American falls.

If it was a stunt, the man could be fined $10,000.

Hmmm. Interesting. Stupid, yet interesting.