History Challenge & Journal

[dtaai-maai]

Yep!

[pharvey]

OK, What and when? As a bonus, what was discovered?
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[dtaai-maai]

I visited Niagara falls in 1972 and remember reading about this - they were drained in the late 60s. Can't remember why or what was discovered.

[sateeb]

A few bodies i would hazard a guess.

[dtaai-maai]

^^In barrels!

[pharvey]

I'm just making things far too easy for you...... I shall go a little more difficult next time!!

Indeed the "Niagara Falls", when water was diverted in 1969. Two bodies and a shed load of coins found - neither of which in barrels!

Forgetting the "discoveries", this was an incredible feat of engineering

"For six months in the summer and fall of 1969, Niagara’s American Falls were “de-watered”, as the Army Corps of Engineers conducted a geological survey of the falls’ rock face, concerned that it was becoming destabilized by erosion. These stark images reveal North America’s iconic – and most powerful – waterfall to be almost as dry as a desert.

Niagara Falls is the collective name for three waterfalls that straddle the international border between Canada and the United States. From largest to smallest, the three waterfalls are the Horseshoe Falls, the American Falls and the Bridal Veil Falls. The Horseshoe Falls lie mostly on the Canadian side and the American Falls entirely on the American side, separated by Goat Island. The smaller Bridal Veil Falls are also on the American side, separated from the other waterfalls by Luna Island.

To dewater the Niagara’s American Falls the army had to build a 600ft (182 m) dam across the Niagara River, which meant that 60,000 gallons of water that flowed every second was diverted over the larger Horseshoe Falls which flow entirely on the Canadian side of the border.

The dam itself consisted of 27,800 tons of rock, and on June 12, 1969, after flowing continuously for over 12,000 years, the American Falls stopped. The completed dewatering of the American Falls was made easier because only 10% of the water follows that route.

While the Horseshoe Falls absorbed the extra flow, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers studied the riverbed and mechanically bolted and strengthened any faults they found; faults that would, if left untreated, have hastened the retreat of the American Falls. A plan to remove the huge mound of talus deposited in 1954 was abandoned because of the high cost.

For a portion of that period, while workers cleaned the former river-bottom of unwanted mosses and drilled test-cores in search of instabilities, a temporary walkway was installed a mere twenty feet from the edge of the dry falls, and tourists were able to explore this otherwise inaccessible and hostile landscape."

[pharvey]

Let's try another......

When and who first patented the earliest Fax/Facsimile?

[dtaai-maai]

I sense an element of trickiness in this question... was it before the telephone was invented?

[pharvey]

I sense an element of trickiness in this question... was it before the telephone was invented?

Yep.... Damn you!!

[dtaai-maai]

Unfortunately that's as far as I can go - unless it was Alexander Graham Bell...?

[pharvey]

Unfortunately that's as far as I can go - unless it was Alexander Graham Bell...?

OK, "pre-telephone", but what exactly is a "Facsimile"? - Nope not that man Bell.

[lindosfan1]

A facsimile is an exact copy could be hand written, a fax is an electronic copy.

[PeteC]

Should be an easy one. What historic event happened on this day in 1994 in England and Wales?

[dtaai-maai]

Nope, nothing's coming to me. And I'll be interested to learn why it should be easy...

[PeteC]

It was a big deal at the time, had never been allowed before, apparently. I don't know what happened to Scotland and N. Ireland, maybe they were already allowing it?