10 things you may not know about Niagara Falls 1860, William Hunt aka 'The Great Farini' traversed the Niagara Gorge with a handed cranked washing machine on his back. He paused half way to rinse out his underwear, to the delight of his female fans. Enough water flows over the falls to fill 68 Olympic-sized swimming pools every minute. Niagara Falls is actually the collective name for three different waterfalls, American Falls, Bridal Veil Falls, The Horseshoe Falls. The force of the falls dissolves 60 tons of salt and rock every minute. 20 per cent of fresh drinking water in the United States goes over the Falls. About 500 other waterfalls in the world are "taller" than Niagara. The Angel Falls in Venezuela is tallest at 3,212ft. However, some of the tallest falls in the world have very little water flowing over them.