YOU ASK, WE ANSWER

Has Niagara Falls ever frozen?

SHORT ANSWER Only once in recorded history has the roar of the Falls been silenced

LONG ANSWER Plunging winter temperatures mean that the three iconic waterfalls that make up Niagara Falls partially freeze on a regular basis. But it is hard to imagine anything less than an ice age bringing the trio of cascades – where 757,000 gallons of water come crashing down every second – to a complete halt. And yet, there is one recorded instance of such a phenomenon occurring.

In late March 1848, locals woke up to realise that Niagara Falls had essentially run dry. It made for an eerie silence, in more ways than one as it turned out that millions of tonnes of ice had caused a dam at Lake Erie further upriver. Some people feared this to be a sign of divine wrath (not an uncommon reaction in 19th-century North America), and they flocked to hastily organised church services as a result.

The blockage lasted 30 hours, during which some foolhardy folk wandered out onto the now-exposed riverbed below to collect trinkets long lost to the water, such as muskets and tomahawks. Others, meanwhile, took the opportunity to clear away dangerous rocks that had been causing trouble for the Maid of the Mist, a tourist boat that took visitors to the foot of the falls.

Did Gilbert and Sullivan get on?

SHORT ANSWER Their clashing personalities created musical magic, but eventually reached a carpet crescendo