Blondin

Blondin, CHARLES, rope-dancer, born 24th February 1824, at St Omer near Calais, his real name being Jean François Gravelet; and, trained at Lyons, was soon known as 'The Little Wonder.' After making a several years' tour of the United States, on 30th June 1859, before a crowd of 25,000 persons, he crossed the Falls of Niagara on a tight-ropes in five minutes; on 4th July he crossed blindfold, trundling a wheelbarrow; on 19th August he carried a man on his back; on 14th September 1860 he crossed on stilts in the presence of the Prince of Wales. His engagement at the Crystal Palace in 1862, where he performed on a rope 249 yards long, and 170 feet from the ground, drew immense crowds. After several years' retirement, he reappeared in 1880, and died at Ealing, 22d February 1897.