Angel Falls, the world's tallest waterfall
Salto Ángel, la mayor caída de agua del mundo
- Date
- 1933 · confidence medium
- Place
- Canaima National Park, Bolívar, Venezuela
- Credited to
- Jimmie Angel (aviator); known to the Pemón people (Kerepakupai Vená)
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
A 979 m drop (807 m uninterrupted) in the Gran Sabana, reported to the world by the aviator Jimmie Angel in 1933. Its height was measured in 1949 by an expedition led by Ruth Robertson.
The Pemón people had known it for far longer; the Venezuelan Ernesto Sánchez La Cruz is said to have described it in 1910. 'Discovery' should be understood as notification to the scientific world.
What it led to
- Recognition of the world's tallest waterfall
- Protection of Canaima National Park (1962)
- Venezuela's tourist image