History Focus |
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A short focus on a person or event associated with this day in History.
| Harry
Houdini (1885--1972) Harry Houdini was the stage name of Ehrich Weiss. He was an American magician, born in Budapest, Hungary. His parents brought him to the United States in his infancy The family settled in Appleton, Wisconsin. He took his professional surname from that of the French magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin. |
Sudden death of Harry Houdini
Escapologist and conjuror Harry Houdini died in a Detroit hospital today aged 52. The man who delighted in cheating death in his daring stage act succumbed to peritonitis after suffering a seemingly minor injury. Tire Hungarian-born master magician began his career as a trapeze artist. He changed his name from Erik Weiss to Houdini, after the famous French conjuror Jean-Eugene Robert Houdin. By the early l900s his stage act had earned him an international reputation. Time and again he would enthrall audiences by escaping from all manner of straitjackets, handcuffs, prison cells, and locked, weighted and submerged containers. He attributed his success to his immense Strength and (tongue in cheek) to his bow legs. Sources: |