Here’s what Niagara Falls looked like when it was turned off for the first time in 12,000 years

In 1969, the US Army Corps of Engineers dumped 27,000 tons of rock to dam the Niagara River and stop the American Falls

“They tamed it and now they will unleash it.”

According to The New York Times in 1969, that was how a tourist characterized the historic moment that the Niagara River was released to gush down over the American Falls once again after it had been cut off for six months.

Engineers had blocked it off so they could examine the boulders at the base of the falls and see whether they could be removed.

While it was blocked off, they discovered two bodies as well as countless coins. They also found it wasn’t feasible to move all of the rock.

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Here’s why, after 12,000 years, the famous falls were “turned off.”

About 12,000 years ago, Niagara Falls formed when a new channel — now known as the Niagara River — linked up between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. The falls are at a crook where the Niagara River turns to the north by about 90 degrees.

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