Editing Waterfall (section)

=== Exploration and naming ===
[[File:Frederic Edwin Church - Niagara Falls, from the American Side - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|''[[Niagara Falls, from the American Side]]'' ([[Frederic Edwin Church]], 1867)]]
Many explorers have visited waterfalls.{{Sfn|Goudie|2020|p=59}} European explorers recorded waterfalls they came across. In 1493, [[Christopher Columbus]] noted [[Carbet Falls]] in [[Guadeloupe]], which was likely the first waterfall Europeans recorded seeing in the Americas. In the late 1600s, [[Louis Hennepin]] visited North America, providing early descriptions of [[Niagara Falls]] and the [[Saint Anthony Falls]]. The geographer Brian J. Hudson argues that it was uncommon to specifically name waterfalls until the 1700s. The trend of Europeans specifically naming falls was in tandem with increased scientific focus on nature, the rise of [[Romanticism]], and increased importance of hydropower with the [[Industrial Revolution]]. European explorers often preferred to give waterfalls names in their own language; for instance, David Livingstone named [[Victoria Falls]] after [[Queen Victoria]], though it was known by local peoples as Mosi-oa-Tunya. Many waterfalls have descriptive names which can come from the river they are on, places they are near, their features, or events that happened near them.<ref name=":1" />

Some countries that were colonized by European nations have taken steps to return names to waterfalls previously renamed by European explorers.<ref name=":1" /> Exploration of waterfalls continues; the [[Gocta Cataracts]] were first announced to the world in 2006.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Hendrix|first=Steve|date=October 15, 2006|title=After the Falls Last spring, Peru announced it had discovered the world's third-tallest waterfall. We went to see this remote wonder, and discovered much more.|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/travel/2006/10/15/after-the-falls-span-classbankhead-last-spring-peru-announced-it-had-discovered-the-worlds-third-tallest-waterfall-we-went-to-see-this-remote-wonder-and-discovered-much-more-span/d7be2f0e-ba43-4ea1-b7a3-bcac64b1b215/|access-date=26 August 2021|archive-date=27 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327162850/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/travel/2006/10/15/after-the-falls-span-classbankhead-last-spring-peru-announced-it-had-discovered-the-worlds-third-tallest-waterfall-we-went-to-see-this-remote-wonder-and-discovered-much-more-span/d7be2f0e-ba43-4ea1-b7a3-bcac64b1b215/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Waterfalls can pose major barriers to travel. Canals are sometimes built as a method to go around them, other times [[Portage|things must be physically carried around]] or [[Portage railway|a railway built]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2013-03-28|title=waterfall|url=http://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/waterfall/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-08-27|website=National Geographic Society|language=en|archive-date=26 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210826000736/https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/waterfall/}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Derek Hayes|year=2006|title=Historical Atlas of Canada: Canada's History Illustrated with Original Maps|page=210|publisher=[[Douglas & McIntyre]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KvtEUChw9uAC&pg=PA210|isbn=978-1-55365-077-5|quote=Most of Canada's first railways were portage railways, designed to meet river traffic and ferry it past rapids.|access-date=2013-03-23}}</ref> In 1885, the geographer [[George Chisholm (geographer)|George Chisholm]] wrote that, "The most signal example of the effect of waterfalls and rapids in retarding the development of civilisation is undoubtedly presented by the continent of Africa, the 'darkness' of which is almost entirely due to this cause."{{Sfn|Hudson|2013b|p=359}}