Many folks have tried going over Niagara Falls in many different ways, but Annie Taylor was the first to go over in a barrel. It was October 24, 1901 and she was 43 years old, or so she said. Genealogical records confirm she was actually 63!!
A school teacher from Bay City, Michigan, she was strapped into a special harness in a wooden barrel and towed out into the mainstream of the Niagara River and cut loose. Seventeen minutes later, the barrel was hooked and dragged onto the Canadian Shore. As the first to conquer the falls emerged from the barrel, she said, "No one ought to ever do that again."
Twenty years later, still living in Niagara Falls, Annie Taylor died penniless.
Source: http://www.infoniagara.com/d-dare-annie.html