This day in history: Daredevil lied about trip over Spokane Falls

From 1975: Terry Brauner, self-proclaimed waterfall daredevil of Kettle Falls, Washington, claimed that he successfully hurdled the Spokane Falls in his homemade inner-tube contraption.

Until he admitted that he didn’t.

He was actually perched on the rocky river bank, filming the contraption with a camera. He hoped to sell footage to a major television network for $50,000 to $100,000.

“No one could tell I wasn’t in it,” Brauner said. “You can’t see a person if he’s inside it.”

He came clean after several witnesses rebutted his claims.

“He’s stretching the truth quite a bit,” one witness said. “He actually didn’t go over the falls.”

He later said he planned to go over the falls but abandoned ship when his oxygen breathing device malfunctioned.

From 1925: Homebuyers were now considering a new attribute in the ideal home: It must have good radio reception.

Frank Stoop, of Spokane, “recently purchased a new home after making a radio investigation of atmospheric conditions in almost every part of the city.”

While house-hunting, he would often return to a house in the evening with his radio set.

“If the reception was poor, the sale was off,” the Chronicle wrote.

Stoop said he loved one particular house, “but the static was so thick that I couldn’t think of carrying the deal through.”

He finally found the “ideal radio home” at 318 E. 25th Ave.