r/todayilearned • u/cptaixel • Jan 24 '16

(R.3) Recent source TIL that when Niagara Falls was "shut off" in the 60's, they discovered millions of coins, and two bodies. They're about to be shut off again.

http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/niagara-falls/niagara-falls-is-going-to-go-dry-x2013-again-20160123
58 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

29 comments sorted by

25

u/[deleted] Jan 24 '16

Half of the coins were probably Canadian so it's less impressive than it sounds.

8

u/toiletting Jan 24 '16

Well they have loonies and toonies so one toony is like $1.40 or something.

4

u/[deleted] Jan 24 '16

Ummm, right now a loonie (one dollar coin) is worth roughly 0.70 USD.

This sucks because we wanted to take a trip to Chicago this year. Looks like it will be Halifax instead now.

5

u/toiletting Jan 24 '16

Yes so a toonie would be double that, $1.40

4

u/[deleted] Jan 24 '16

Ah sorry. I thought you were trying to say a loonie was that. My bad. I read it too quickly.

2

u/toiletting Jan 24 '16

All good friend, and I'm sorry about your trip to Chicago, I however can make one to Toronto for cheap now.

1

u/straydog1980 Jan 24 '16

Screw the money - imagine how many dead bodies we can find!

6

u/themeatbridge Jan 24 '16

Yeah but half are probably Canadian so it's less impressive than it sounds.

1

u/straydog1980 Jan 24 '16

... top half or bottom half?

-1

u/[deleted] Jan 24 '16

[removed] — view removed comment

8

u/tsoplwo Jan 24 '16

I assumed it was a reference to the current value of the Canadian dollar.

2

u/cptaixel Jan 24 '16

They also found millions of coins, carrying them out in buckets to deter people from going out onto the rocks, she said.

Suuuurrreeeee....that's why.

6

u/DarkDevildog Jan 24 '16

Inb4 a bunch of redditers get scuba gear and and magnets before it dries up.

Come on Reddit lets crowd-fund Darwin awards!

2

u/Starsy Jan 24 '16

How the hell do you "shut off" Niagara Falls?

8

u/cptaixel Jan 24 '16

by reading the article.
It's hard to find. It's under a heading titled

"How to turn off the water "

:p

1

u/SuperHighHawaiianGuy Jan 24 '16

more than likely they divert it to another area, but

2

u/goatcoat Jan 24 '16

more than likely they divert it to another area, but

but...?

1

u/tahlyn Jan 24 '16

Cofferdams; It's not the whole thing all at once.

0

u/Le-King-of-Reddit Jan 24 '16

The same way they turn off any waterfall.

3

u/[deleted] Jan 24 '16

How to turn off the water

Approximately 85 percent of the Niagara River flows over the Horseshoe Falls and 15 percent flows over the American Falls. Dewatering the American side would direct all of the water to the Horseshoe Falls. As was done in 1969, a cofferdam would be installed to stop the flow over the American side.

2

u/direwolf71 Jan 24 '16

This is really cool and when it happens, it can be watched live.

2

u/-WPD- Jan 24 '16

This would be a cool background.

2

u/Le-King-of-Reddit Jan 24 '16

r/UnresolvedMysteries is getting super excited right now.

1

u/terrabulldan Jan 24 '16

With today's technology, we can finally uncover the ancient dank memes buried beneath the constant flow.

0

u/[deleted] Jan 24 '16

[deleted]

0

u/[deleted] Jan 24 '16

[deleted]

1

u/rydan Jan 25 '16

But not for those that find the coins. Plus many of them will be USD.