In the early 1890s, teenager Ehrich Weiss, having struggled as a trapeze artist and vaudeville performer, tried his hand at magic. Appearing as “Harry Houdini” (the name taken from French magician Jean Robert-Houdin), he discovered an uncanny ability to escape from confines ranging from handcuffs to prison cells and developed a “challenge act” in which he freed himself from various predicaments, including devices that spectators brought to his shows. By 1900, Houdini had become an international sensation.

Among Houdini’s most dangerous and widely publicized feats were his escapes from an airtight tank filled with water (the “Water Torture Cell”); a straitjacket that he wore while hanging upside down high above a large crowd; a nailed crate that had been lowered into a river; and a Scotland Yard prison cell.

Houdini was vigilant in exposing performers who tricked or deceived the public. He even debunked Robert-Houdin’s abilities. Most particularly, Houdini in his later years campaigned relentlessly against those who claimed to have supernatural powers, such as the ability to read minds or communicate with the dead. He duplicated their acts and revealed their methods, showing that their effects actually were achieved through chicanery.

PostScript: Taking his test of spiritualism to the extreme, Houdini agreed with his wife that the first to die would communicate a secret message to the other from the afterlife, if that were possible. Houdini died first, on October 31, 1926 (willing his act to his brother and fellow magician, Hardeen). For 10 years, his wife tried to contact him through mediums, but to no avail.