03/24/2024
On this day, 150 years ago, on the 24th of March, 1874, the iconic magician and escapologist Harry Houdini was born in Budapest, Hungary. He was one of seven children born to Rabbi Mayer Sámuel Weisz and Cecília Steiner, with the birth name of Erik Weisz. The family emigrated to Appleton, Wisconsin where his father served as rabbi.
During his life Harry, who desperately wanted to be recognised as a true American, always claimed Appleton as his Birthplace.
He managed to pack a lot into his relatively short life. After his family moved to NYC, he apprenticed to a locksmith, and had other odd jobs before learning some magic tricks and joining a traveling show. He did a little bit of everything, but one day changed his life forever.
He was doing his magic act, which included an escape routine, when a local police officer in the audience challenged Houdini to escape from the officer’s own regulation handcuffs. Houdini, already familiar with most of the cuffs in use, agreed, and his escape caused a sensation, landing him on the front page of the local newspapers.
That was the turning point. The Challenge Handcuff Escape became the foundation of Houdini’s growing fame and eventual legend.
There were many other escape artists working in Houdini’s day, and some imitated his challenge escape. But then, he added one finishing touch.
When others escaped, their ropes, chains and handcuffs were opened. It was an amazing display of skill, but still a stunt. When Houdini escaped, all of his restraints, even the boxes and cages he had been locked in, were still locked. Many of locks sealed with sealing wax were undisturbed. It went beyond a stunt and became magic.
Houdini, it was recently revealed, also was a spy for the USA during WWI, carrying valuable information to and from England.
Houdini joined the Magic Circle in London, and having become a 33° Master Mason, founded the Society of American Magicians, or S.A.M., and modeled its rituals after Freemasonry.
Houdini died too soon, of peritonitis, from an inflamed appendix that was ruptured by a blow to his abdomen, on Halloween 1926 at the age of fifty-two. He may not have been the best magician, illusionist or escapologist of all time, but he is certainly the most memorable, and his name will live on long after the rest of us have been forgotten. Happy Birthday, Harry!
“My brain is the key that sets me free.” - Harry Houdini
