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On Friday, Nik Wallenda became the first person to walk on a tightrope across the Niagara Falls.

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Wallenda took measured steps for 1,800 feet across the mist-fogged brink of the roaring falls separating the US and Canada.

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‘‘This is what dreams are made of, people,’’ Wallenda said shortly after he began walking the wire.

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ABC, which televised the walk, insisted that Wallenda use a tether.

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An estimated crowd of 125,000 people on the Canadian side and 4,000 on the US side watched.

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The crowd waited amid summer-like temperatures.

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The seventh-generation member of the famed Flying Wallendas had long dreamed of pulling off the stunt, never before attempted.

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It took Wallenda two years to persuade US and Canadian authorities to allow the performance.