Today in History: Houdini performed his final disappearing act
He saw himself as a showman and an escape artist rather than a magician.
On this day in 1874, Harry Houdini died of peritonitis which he contracted after suffering a ruptured appendix 12 days earlier.
Houdini, born Erik Weisz in Budapest, 1874, was the son of a rabbi. At a young age, Houdini moved to Appleton, Wisconsin, USA with his family, where he began to display a natural acrobatic ability and found he was brilliant at picking locks too.
Little did they know, Houdini would go on to become the most celebrated magician and escape artist of the 20th century. After joining a travelling circus at the age of nine, Houdini built up a reputation as an escape artist and claimed that he could escape any manacle.
In 1900, he went on his first international tour, performing all over Europe to large audiences wherever he went. He soon began performing more dangerous acts, with one of his favourites being dropped into a water tank (or from the side of a boat) inside an iron-bound chest and then escaping from it. Another favourite was being heavily bound and then suspended upside-down in a glass-walled water tank.
The end of his prolific career eventually came on 31 October 1926.
Twelve days earlier, Houdini had been talking to a group of students after a lecture in Montreal, Canada, commenting on the strength of his abdominal muscles and how they could withstand strong blows. All of a sudden, a student walked up and punched Houdini in the stomach, twice, not giving the magician enough time to prepare, and ruptured his appendix in the process.
He was on a train to Detroit for a performance when he fell ill. He performed one last time and was hospitalised thereafter. He underwent surgery, but to no avail.
His burst appendix poisoned his system, ultimately leading to death from peritonitis on 31 October.
Houdini relied on strength, dexterity, and concentration (not trickery) to pull off his stunts.
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