Karel Soucek
Karel Soucek (April 19, 1947 – January 20, 1985; né Karel Souček) was a Czech professional stuntman living in Canada who went over Niagara Falls in a barrel in 1984. He lived in Hamilton, Ontario.Soucek prepared for his 1984 Niagara Falls stunt by researching previous attempts, by sending unmanned barrels over the falls to test the currents, and by dropping his barrel off the Niagara Escarpment in Hamilton to test its shock absorbence. Soucek's custom-made barrel was long and in diameter. It was bright red and bore the words, "Last of the Niagara Daredevils - 1984" and "It's not whether you fail or triumph, it's that you keep your word... and at least try!" On July 2, 1984, the barrel was rolled into the Niagara River above the cataract of Niagara Falls with Soucek inside. In seconds, the barrel was swept over the brink. Shortly after, Soucek emerged bleeding but safe.
Soucek was fined $500 for performing the stunt without a license. He had also spent $15,000 on materials and labor and $30,000 to film the stunt, but quickly earned back all his costs from sales and interviews. Having tasted success, Soucek decided to build a museum at Niagara Falls, Ontario in which to display his stunting paraphernalia. He convinced a corporation to finance a barrel drop of from the top of the Houston Astrodome into a tank of water to pay for his project.
On January 19, 1985, as Soucek was enclosed in his barrel, 180 feet above the floor of the Astrodome, the barrel was released prematurely and began spinning as it fell toward the floor. Instead of landing in the center of the tank of water, the barrel hit the rim. Foam pads which had been placed at the bottom of the tank to cushion Soucek's fall had floated to the surface before the barrel was released. Soucek, severely injured, was still alive when he was cut from the barrel but died while the Astrodome stunt show was still going on. Stuntman Evel Knievel had tried to persuade Soucek not to go through with the stunt, calling it "the most dangerous I've ever seen".
Soucek is buried at the Drummond Hill Cemetery in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. Provided by Wikipedia
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8by Zuzana Kahounová, Ján Remšík, Radek Fedr, Jan Bouchal, Alena Mičková, Eva Slabáková, Lucia Binó, Aleš Hampl, Karel SoučekGet full text
Published 2020-07-01
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9by Tereza Kauerová, Tomáš Goněc, Josef Jampílek, Susanne Hafner, Ann-Kathrin Gaiser, Tatiana Syrovets, Radek Fedr, Karel Souček, Peter KollarGet full text
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10by Alena Mickova, Gvantsa Kharaishvili, Daniela Kurfurstova, Mariam Gachechiladze, Milan Kral, Ondrej Vacek, Barbora Pokryvkova, Martin Mistrik, Karel Soucek, Jan BouchalGet full text
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Published 2017-10-01
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12by Hana Paculová, Juraj Kramara, Šárka Šimečková, Radek Fedr, Karel Souček, Ondřej Hylse, Kamil Paruch, Marek Svoboda, Martin Mistrík, Jiří KohoutekGet full text
Published 2017-10-01
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13by Peter Kollar, Tomáš Bárta, Stanislava Keltošová, Pavlína Trnová, Veronika Müller Závalová, Karel Šmejkal, Jan Hošek, Radek Fedr, Karel Souček, Aleš HamplGet full text
Published 2015-01-01
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14by Peter Kollar, Tomáš Bárta, Jan Hošek, Karel Souček, Veronika Müller Závalová, Shushan Artinian, Rabih Talhouk, Karel Šmejkal, Pavel Suchý, Aleš HamplGet full text
Published 2013-01-01
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15by Zuzana Kahounová, Eva Slabáková, Lucia Binó, Ján Remšík, Radek Fedr, Jan Bouchal, Radek Vrtěl, Lucie Jurečková, Volodymyr Porokh, Darja Páralová, Aleš Hampl, Karel SoučekGet full text
Published 2019-03-01
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16by Zuzana Kahounová, Eva Slabáková, Lucia Binó, Ján Remšík, Radek Fedr, Jan Bouchal, Daniela Kurfűrstová, Radek Vrtěl, Vladimír Študent, Lucie Jurečková, Volodymyr Porokh, Aleš Hampl, Karel SoučekGet full text
Published 2018-12-01
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17by Johan Boström, Zuzana Sramkova, Alena Salašová, Helena Johard, Diana Mahdessian, Radek Fedr, Carolyn Marks, Jiřina Medalová, Karel Souček, Emma Lundberg, Sten Linnarsson, Vítězslav Bryja, Petra Sekyrova, Mikael Altun, Michael AndängGet full text
Published 2017-01-01
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18by Stanislav Drápela, Prashant Khirsariya, Wytske M. vanWeerden, Radek Fedr, Tereza Suchánková, Diana Búzová, Jan Červený, Aleš Hampl, Martin Puhr, William R. Watson, Zoran Culig, Lumír Krejčí, Kamil Paruch, Karel SoučekGet full text
Published 2020-10-01
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