Editor’s note: This story was originally published on Aug. 7, 2024.

A look back at local, national and world events through Deseret News archives.

On Aug. 7, 1974, French high-wire artist Philippe Petit performed an unapproved tightrope walk between the two towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, over 1,300 feet above the ground.

Fifty-one years after that daredevil act, at the time called the “artistic crime of the century,” Petit will reportedly note the anniversary with several events in New York City Wednesday and Thursday, alongside his friend Sting.

Petit, then 24, of Nemours, France, captured the imagination of New Yorkers on Aug. 7, by “cavorting across a wire slung between the World Trade Towers 110 stories above the streets.” He and his support accomplices were arr

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