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Our world is full of the unexplainable,

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and if history is an open book, all

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of these amazing tales are right

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there on display, just waiting

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for us to explore. Welcome

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to the Cabinet of Curiosities.

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Fame is a strange creature. It

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is both elusive and lucrative,

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and some people seek it by any means

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necessary. Nowadays, there's

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no such thing as bad publicity if

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it means keeping your name in the news. But

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for Helen, fame came at a

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steep price. She

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was born in in central

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Scotland, and from a very young age,

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the people around Helen knew something was off

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about her. She often scared classmates

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with grim warnings of the future, and

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she convinced many of them that she could

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talk to the dead. As

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she got older, Helen's um

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gifts garnered her much acclaim

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and popularity among her neighbors.

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She often held seances in her home, where

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she would not only conjure spirits related

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to those in attendance, but she would also

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produce ectoplasm from her mouth,

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as though the dead were speaking through

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her. On

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rare occasions, phantoms would appear behind

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her, including some Helen referred

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to as her spirit guide to the other side.

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This spirit guide was a child named

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Peggy, who would float above the crowd,

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her spectral gown flowing overhead.

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Unfortunately, Helen and the spirit

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world shared a common enemy, flash

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photography. During

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one of her seances, while Helen was

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blindfolded, a photographer in attendance

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snap some pictures of the so called phantoms

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the host had managed to summon. They

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were moving around behind her, wearing long

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white robes and stiff, cherubic

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faces. It was hard to see

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in the dark, but once illuminated

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by the photographer's flash, it became

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clear exactly what the famous medium

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had actually managed to call forth

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masks on coat hangers, wrapped

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in long white nightgowns. Oh

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and that ectoplasm or spiritual

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energy that Helen would sometimes spit up

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that was nothing more than cheesecloth and egg

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whites. But Helen wasn't

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about to give up that easily. She honestly

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believed she had a talent, and during November

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of ninety she put

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that talent on full display. Helen

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and her husband had recently moved to Portsmouth,

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the home of the Royal Navy, and during one

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of her sessions, she managed to conjure

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a sailor from the battleship h M.

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S Barham. The sailor told the

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audience he had been killed in battle and

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gone down with the ship, a miraculous

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feat for anyone present, except

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for one problem. Nobody knew

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about that accident. Given

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her history, most people didn't put much

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faith in her powers. However, the

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Navy certainly did. As it turned

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out a German sub really had sunk

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the h M. S Barham months earlier and

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killed almost nine hundred of her crew. News

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of the sinking had been kept under wraps

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to fool the Nazis. The only people

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who knew were the relatives of the deceased,

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so there was no reason Helen would have known anything

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about what had transpired. Word

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about Helen's prediction spread, and

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a short while later, a Navy lieutenant

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attended a seance to get a look for

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himself at the wondrous Mrs Duncan

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and was shocked by what he found. She

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had manifested an apparition of his late

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aunt, as well as his sister, who had

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recently passed away. The lieutenant

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left angry and confused, and contacted

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a police officer soon after, and

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that's because he had no aunt nor

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a sister. The jig was up,

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as they say, and Helen found herself

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in a lot of trouble. You see, certain

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laws on the books hadn't been updated

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with the times. Mediums were popular

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in nineteen forties England, but many

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had been exposed as con artists and were

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often charged under antiquated edicts

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such as the Vagrancy Act of eighteen twenty

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four, as well as various conspiracy

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and larceny laws. After all, they

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were swindling well intentioned folks out

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of hard earned money. Helen's

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case, however, proved difficult. She

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protested aggressively on behalf of

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her innocence. She didn't see

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herself as a liar or a cheat.

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In her mind, she was the real deal, providing

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a much needed service and form of

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relief to mourning loved ones. So

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prosecutors found another way to

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get her. They convicted her under the

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Witchcraft Act of seventeen thirty

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five, and that earned her a jail sentence

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of nine months. Upon her release,

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she promised to not conduct another seance

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as long as she lived. She

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held on to that promise for fifteen years

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until nineteen fifty six, when

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she was arrested again after violating

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the Fraudulent Media Him's Act of nineteen

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fifty one, the act that had replaced

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the Witchcraft Act. Perhaps

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Helen Duncan was a fraud, or

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maybe she was the real deal. No

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one has been able to prove how she obtained

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her knowledge of the h. M. S. Bar Um,

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but one thing is for sure. According

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to English history, she was

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the last witch whoever have

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her day in court. Like

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most of us, Annie had big plans for

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her life. But plans don't always

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work out, do they? An

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upstate New York in the eighteen fifties, and

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thee's prospects were slim. She

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came from a big family with big needs,

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and after her father's death in eighteen fifty,

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Annie struck out on her own. She

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sought an education to become a school teacher.

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It was during this time when she met David. The

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two fell in love and eventually married, But

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like I said before, plans don't

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always work out. The couple

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had a child who didn't survive past infancy.

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David died a short time later, and

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poor Annie spent the next several decades

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floating from one odd job to the next.

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She opened her own dance studio in Michigan,

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then left to teach music up north, eventually

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making her way to San Antonio, Texas,

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and Mexico City before finally

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settling back in Michigan. Times

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were changing, America had entered

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the twentieth century, and Annie was getting

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older. She had no long term financial

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solution to fall back on, and retirement

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was out of the question. Most women

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at the time would have looked for simple ways of keeping

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their situation, but not Annie.

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She needed to make a splash to stay afloat.

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Literally. Her idea

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was simple. On October nineteen

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o one, her sixty third birthday. In

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fact, she would pack herself into

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an oak pickle barrel and launched herself

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over Niagara Falls. Like

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I said before, simple right

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now. Understandably, she had trouble finding

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people to help her. Few wanted

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to be responsible for a woman killing herself

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in the most ostentatious way possible.

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Yet she continued with her plan and even

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did a test run a few days before the main

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event. Not with herself, mind, you

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know, she used a cat, and

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don't worry, the cats survived, and forty

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eight hours after it emerged from the barrel,

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Annie stepped inside her own. It

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was lined with a mattress to absorb some of

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the impact, and a rescue team was

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established at the base of the falls to retrieve

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her. Once the barrel reached the bottom.

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She planned for everything, it seems. Annie

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and the barrel rode out toward Goat Island,

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situated at the top of the falls, along

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with some of her friends. She tossed

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the barrel overboard and climbed inside while

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her associates screwed the lid down tight.

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Then they used a by bicicle pump to compress

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the air inside the barrel, which

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they then sealed off with a cork. And

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that was it. The time had come for Annie

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to make good on her promise and hopefully

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make a little money at the same time. The

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current carried the barrel down the river and

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over the falls, where it plummeted to the

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waters below. The team of rescuers

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found her, and, fearing the worst, pride

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the barrel open. They peered

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inside. There was Annie,

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her head smeared with blood, a

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little worse for wear, but she was still

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alive. She'd done it. Annie

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Edson Taylor had become the first woman

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to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel

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and live to tell the tale, which

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she did often, of course. Not

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long after her stunt, Annie went on a

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brief speaking to her When asked

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whether she'd ever try it again, she was quoted

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as saying, I would sooner walk up to

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the mouth of a cannon knowing it was going

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to blow me to pieces than another

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trip over the falls. Still,

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her speaking engagements didn't garner her

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the financial security that she hoped

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for. She took the posing for pictures

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with tourists and planned on doing another

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plunge several years later, but

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nothing ever came of it. She

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spent her final years once again bouncing

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around from job to job, at one time

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finding herself conducting seances as

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a medium, before passing away in in

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relative obscurity. Since

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her stint, Annie's life and experiences

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have inspired numerous stories, television

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specials, and even a stage musical.

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However, it has inspired rumors

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as well. One such

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rumor involved a stowaway inside

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her barrel. According to reports

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at the time, the cat that went over the falls

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days before Annie stunt hadn't

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been the only feeline involved. Apparently,

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a black cat had been placed beside

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Annie before she was sealed inside her

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barrel. And when that barrel

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was recovered and opened, they say the

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cat emerged unharmed, except

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for one small change. All

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it's black fur it turned

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white. I

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hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the

10:16

Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe

10:18

for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn

10:20

more about the show by visiting Curiosities

10:22

podcast dot com.

10:25

The show was created by me Aaron

10:27

Manky in partnership with how Stuff

10:29

Works. I make another award winning

10:31

show called Lore, which is a podcast,

10:34

book series, and television show, and

10:36

you can learn all about it over at the World

10:38

of Lore dot com. And

10:40

until next time, stay curious.