Blondin, Charles, a French rope dancer, born at St. Omer, Pas-de-Calais, in 1824, was trained at Lyons, where he made such rapid progress that he was designated "The Little Wonder." After making a several years' tour of the United States, on June 30, 1859, before a crowd of 25,000 persons, he crossed the Falls of Niagara on a tight-rope in five minutes; on July 4, he crossed blindfold, trundling a wheelbarrow; on Aug. 19, he carried a man on his back; on Sept. 14, 1860, he crossed on stilts in the presence of the Prince of Wales. His last appearance was in 1888. He died Feb. 22, 1897.
Entry from Everybody's Cyclopedia, 1912.