The Mysterious Life of Harry Houdini

Some 80 years after his death, Harry Houdini is back in the public spotlight with the publication of The Secret Life of Houdini by William Kalush and Larry Sloman, which has caused many people, including the magician's great-nephew, to reconsider rumors that Houdini may have been poisoned by Spiritualists, a group who claimed to speak to the dead through séances. Houdini went to great lengths to debunk their practices, often exposing their tricks on the stage.

Forensic pathologists announced recently that they will exhume Houdini's body to determine once and for all what happened to the escape artist. . The Smithsonian photo essay (click on link below) sheds light on the escape artist's life

Harry Houdini, born into a Jewish family in Budapest, Hungary, freed himself from chains after jumping off a pier into Boston's Charles River, wiggled out of a strait jacket while hanging upside down in Times Square and appeared alive and well after being submerged in his Water Torture Cell. The great escape artist defied belief and entertained hundreds of thousands of people throughout the early 20th century. Houdini was a sensation in Europe where he became widely known as "The Handcuff King." In each European city Houdini would challenge local police to restrain him with shackles and lock him in their jails. In many of these challenge escapes, Houdini would first be stripped nude and searched. In Moscow, Houdini escaped from a Siberian prison transport van. Publicity stated that, had he been unable to free himself, he would have had to travel to Siberia where the only key was kept.

In 1913, he introduced perhaps his most famous act, the Chinese Water Torture Cell, in which he was suspended upside-down in a locked glass-and-steel cabinet full to overflowing with water. The act required that Houdini hold his breath for more than three minutes.

Houdini died on Halloween in 1926, at age 52. His death certificate blames a ruptured appendix, but rumors circulated that he may have been murdered. Posted by Jason McManus.

Smithsonian Link & Slideshow

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