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Origins -

The Greeks and the Romans were among the first to take to a tightrope. Ancient frescoes unearthed at Pompeii depict scenes where dark-skinned, blonde-haired dancers are seen walking a tightrope and using a thyrsus, the staff sacred to Bacchus, the god of wine-making, as a balancing tool.

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Street performers -

History records these acrobats performing high above the streets of Rome and even in the Coliseum. The Romans called these artists funambula, and today funambulist is the technical term for wire walkers, tightrope walkers, and slackliners.

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Highwire act -

These highwire acts were also played out by some tightrope walkers while clutching a kithara, a seven-stringed musical instrument also used by the ancient Greeks.

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Jultagi -

Jultagi, the traditional Korean performance of tightrope-walking, likely originated in the Silla era, a Korean kingdom that existed between 57 BCE–935 CE. This highly skilled discipline still exists to this day.

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Chinese acrobats -

In fact, in the eyes of chroniclers, the acrobats of the Far East were the best rope dancers in the world. Chinese variety art in particular showcased examples of extraordinary skill on the highwire.

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Medieval tightrope dancing -

Tightrope walking as a performance art became popular in Europe during the 13th century. And it was during the medieval period that highwire acts generally became more elaborate.

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The rope tightens across Europe -

It was not uncommon to see female acrobats take a turn on the wire. In fact, women were valued members of traveling circus troupes, their lighter weight proving a distinct advantage when traversing a rope.

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Fairground attraction -

In England, traveling fairs often included performers walking a tightrope. In this 1733 illustration of Southwark Fair in London, a tightrope walker is seen interrupting his routine with a mid-wire flip.

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Pierre Forioso -

Tightrope superstars emerged in Paris after the Revolution. Among the most celebrated was Pierre Forioso. In 1807, he walked on a rope from the Pont de la Concorde to the Pont des Tuileries to celebrate Napoleon's birthday. He's pictured here in this 1817 engraving with his troupe of rope dancers.

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Marietta Ravel and Madame Saqui -

Marietta Ravel, a guitar-playing tightrope artist from the celebrated Ravel family of pantomimists, and Madame Saqui (Marguerite-Antoinette Lalanne) were two of the most renowned female rope walkers performing in 19th-century France.

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Charles Blondin (1824–1897) -

But the person who took tightrope walking to a high art was Jean François Gravelet, better known as Charles Blondin.

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The daredevil of Niagara Falls -

Having wowed audiences in his native France and Europe with his highwire prowess, Blondin stunned America in 1859 by walking over Niagara Falls. It was an unbelievable feat of balance and daring, and made Blondin an instant celebrity.

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Repeat performances -

Enjoying his newfound fame, Blondin repeated the walk on several other occasions, often with different theatrical variations: blindfolded, pushing a wheelbarrow, and even carrying a man (his manager, a very anxious Harry Colcord) on his back. And all this without the use of a safety harness!

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Maria Spelterini (1853–1912) -

On July 8, 1876, Italian tightrope walker Maria Spelterini made her own crossing of Niagara Gorge. She crossed three more times, wearing peach baskets strapped to her feet (pictured) in one instance, then walking blindfolded, and finally with her ankles and wrists manacled.

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Stephen Peer (1840-1887) -

Not everyone was as sure-footed as Charles Blondin or Maria Spelterini. On June 25, 1887, Canadian funambulist Stephen Peer fell to his death while attempting to cross Niagara Falls despite having successfully completed the feat on several previous occasions.

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Henri L'Estrange (c. 1842–1894) -

On the other side of the world, an Australian funambulist by the very French-sounding name of Henri L'Estrange became the first person to walk across part of Sydney Harbor.

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Con Colleano (1899–1973) -

Another Australian, Con Colleano (born Cornelius Sullivan) was the first to successfully execute a forward somersault on a tightrope, in 1919. This daring achievement earned him the sobriquet "The Wizard of the Wire."

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Bird Millman (1890–1940) -

American highwire performer Bird Millman O'Day was one of the most celebrated tightrope walkers of her generation. A member of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, Millman performed throughout the United States as well as in Europe. Image: Popular Mechanics, 1917

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A marriage made in heaven -

Throughout the middle half of the 20th century, the tightrope spectacle was largely confined to circus acts and publicity stunts like this one, when on March 22, 1959, two aerialists, Roland Schmidt and Francine Pary, got married 65 ft (20 m) above ground on a wire set between the two towers of La Rochelle Harbor in France.

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Philippe Petit -

Then suddenly, the tightrope made international headlines. French highwire artist Philippe Petit first gained international fame for his unauthorized tightrope walk between the towers of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris in 1971.

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Philippe Petit -

But it was his astonishing walk between the towers of the World Trade Center in New York City in 1974 that garnered him superstardom. A documentary, 'Man on Wire' (2008), chronicles the event, while a 2015 movie, 'The Walk,' dramatizes the extraordinary episode. Petit is pictured at Ground Zero on October 17, 2001, the site where the Twin Towers once stood and where he performed his breathtaking stunt.

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Karl Wallenda (1905–1978) -

German-American highwire artist Karl Wallenda was the founder of renowned daredevil circus troupe The Flying Wallendas, and is perhaps the most iconic tightrope walker. He performed several dangerous skywalks, often without a safety device. In 1978, he attempted a walk between the two towers of the 10-story Condado Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Half way across he lost his balance and fell to his death. He was 73 years old. Wallenda is pictured in 1976 performing near Tower Bridge in London.

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Nik Wallenda -

Nik Wallenda, great-grandson of Karl, upholds the family tradition. Among his many accomplishments is his astonishing 2014 walk from the west tower to the east tower of Marina City in Chicago, which he undertook blindfolded. Poignantly, he had earlier completed Karl Wallenda's walk between the two towers of the Condado Plaza Hotel, on June 4, 2011.

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Adili Wuxor -

Dubbed the "Prince of Tightrope Walking" by national and international media, Chinese highwire daredevil Adili Wuxor is pictured in 2016 walking a 5,905-ft-long (1,800 m) tightrope between Helan Mountain and Niushou Mountain along the Yellow River in Wuzhong city.

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Eskil Rønningsbakken -

Norwegian performer of balancing acts Eskil Rønningsbakken is pictured standing on an ice cube set across a tightrope 900 ft (274 m) above a glacier-fissure in Dovrefjell–Sunndalsfjella National Park on March 29, 2007. He undertook the treacherous stunt to demonstrate how dangerous global warming can be.

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Kane Petersen -

On September 16, 2015, highwire artist Kane Petersen successfully walked a tightrope 984 ft (300 m) above the ground at Eureka Skydeck in Melbourne, Australia. The walk was the highest ever attempted in the Southern Hemisphere.

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Jay Cochrane (1944-2013) -

Retired Canadian tightrope walker Jay Cochrane, known as the "Prince of the Air," set numerous records throughout his career, including "The Great China Skywalk," where he walked from one cliff wall to the opposite side above the Yangtze River. His final walk was an 11.81-mi (19.01 km) cumulative distance skywalk from the Skylon Tower (pictured) to the pinnacle of the Hilton Fallsview Hotel in Niagara Falls on July 24, 2005.

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Highliners -

Today's generation of tightrope walkers are more often referred to as highliners, adventurers like Nathan Paulin, whose 7,349-ft-long (2,240 m) highline crossing at Mont Saint Michel, France, in May 2022 set a new world record.

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From tightrope to slackline -

In fact, in many instances, the tightrope has become the slackline as a new breed of extreme sports enthusiasts take to the skies, people like Swiss aerialists Samuel Volery, seen here walking a very thin line during the Highline Extreme event in Moléson peak, western Switzerland, on September 26, 2015.

Sources: (Smithsonian Magazine) (The New Yorker)

See also: The most hazardous leisure pursuits in the world

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