Charles Blondin was the first person to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope. What was his birth name?

Born on 28th February 1824, Jean François Gravelet was a French tightrope walker and acrobat. Even though his birth name was Jean-François Gravelet, he was known by many other names and nicknames, ‘Charles Blondin’ being the most famous of them all.

At the age of five, he was sent to the 'École de Gymnase' in Lyon. After six months of training as an acrobat, he made his first public appearance as 'The Boy Wonder'. His superior skill and grace, as well as the originality of the settings of his acts, made him a popular favourite.

In 1855, Blondin went to the United States. He was encouraged to perform with the Ravel troupe in New York City and was subsequently part proprietor of a circus. He especially owed his celebrity and fortune to his idea to cross the Niagara Gorge on a tightrope, 1,100ft (340 m) long, 3.25 in (8.3 cm) in diameter and 160ft (49 m) above the water, near the location of the current Rainbow Bridge. This he did on 30th June 1859, and a number of times thereafter, often with different theatrical variations: blindfolded, trundling a wheelbarrow, carrying a man (his manager, Harry Colcord) on his back, sitting down midway while he cooked and ate an omelette, or standing on a chair with only one of its legs balanced on the rope.

Blondin died from complications of diabetes at his "Niagara House" in Ealing, London, on 22nd February 1897, aged 72. Two streets in Northfields, London, are named in his honour: ‘Blondin Avenue’ and ‘Niagara Avenue’.