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Niagara Falls is a small group of large waterfalls in the Niagara River in eastern North America, on the border between the United States and Canada.With a height of approximately 236 meters above sea level.

They include three waterfalls: The "Canadian Falls (Ontario)," American magnifying glasses'(New York) and the smaller, "Veil of cataracts Bride." Although not have great height, range widely, and are the most voluminous of americas North, go through them all the water of the Great Lakes.

Since they were discovered by European settlers have become very popular, not only for its beauty but also as a source of energy and a defiant draft environmental conservation. They are a tourist site shared by the cities of Niagara Falls (New York) and Niagara Falls (Ontario).

HISTORY

The name "Niagara" is from an Iroquois word meaning "thunder of water." The original habitants of the region were the Ongi, a tribe called the Iroquois neutral by the French conquerors, who found them aid as mediators in disputes with other tribes.

There is controversy over who was the first European to give a written description on cataracts. The area was visited by Samuel de Champlain in 1604. Members of his group told of the existence of some spectacular waterfalls, which were mentioned in its daily journey, but unseen by. Some say that the naturalist Pehr Kalm made the first description of the falls during an expedition to the area in the early eighteenth century. However, most historians agree that Father Louis Hennepin and the note described much earlier, in 1677, after having travelled to the area with the explorer Rene Robert Cavelier de La Salle. Hennepin also was the first to describe the Falls of St. Anthony in Minnesota.

During the nineteenth century and popularized the tourism was the area most industrialized mid-century. The demand made by observers that in 1848 he constructed a bridge for pedestrians and then the Suspension Bridge from Niagara Charles Ellet. This was replaced by the Suspension Bridge from Niagara Falls by John Augustus Roebling in 1855. In 1886 Leffert Buck replacement Roebling Bridge, built in wood and stone, dominated by one in steel, which even today carries a railway line on cataracts. The first steel bridge near the falls was completed in 1897, today known as the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge. Have step for vehicles, trains and pedestrians between Canada and the United States just below the falls. In 1941 will complete the third step with the bridge Rainbow Bridge, which allows vehicular traffic and pedestrians.

Especially after the First World War, tourism had explosive growth since the car until the arrival cataracts much easier. The history of Niagara Falls in the twentieth century is largely that of efforts to harness the power of the falls to produce hydropower and control the uncontrolled growth of both the American and Canadian side, which threaten the natural beauty of the place.

VISIT FALLS

The largest concentration of tourists occurs during the spring and summer, when the falls are both an attraction during the day and at dusk. From the Canadian side, artificial lights illuminate both sides for several hours after sunset.

On the U.S. side, the falls can be admired from trails of Prospect Park, which also owns a tower of observation. Nearby, the Cave of the Winds leads hikers to a point below the falling water Veil of Bride. The Niagara Scenic Trolley offers guided tours through cataracts Americans.

In the Canadian side, Queen Victoria Park has platforms that offer a spectacular view of the waterfalls Americans and Canadians. There are trails that lead to observatories that produce the illusion of being under the falls. The observation deck near the Skylon Tower offers higher on the view the falls and toward the other hand, offers a view of Toronto. Together with the Konica Minolta Tower, is one of the two towers in Canada overlooking the falls. In the Niagara River, the company Niagara River Recreational Trail runs 32 km from the fort until Erie strong George, and includes many historic sites related to the War of 1812.

The Maid of the Mist cruise passengers carried below the falls since 1846. The Spanish Aerocar, built in 1916 from Spanish design engineer Leonardo Torres Quevedo is a cableway carrying passengers from the Canadian side to below the falls.

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