Wild Wednesday

 

Harry Houdini, one of the greatest escape artists of all times, made a living being mysterious.  Eighty six years after his death, people today still are fascinated with the life and time of this famous magician.  You might know some of his famous escape tricks like the Chinese Water Torture Cell or the Milk Can Escape, but did you know these facts about him?

1.  Houdini died on October 31, 1926 from a ruptured appendix after being hit in the abdomen as part of a stunt gone wrong.  His wife, Bess, attempted to contact her husband through a series of seances for the next ten years and in 1936 closed down the shrine created in his honor.

2.  Dixie Dooley, a Las Vegas magician, holds a seance during his magic act that once had 20 people attend but now performs for crowds of up to 5000 at a time.

3.  Before Bess died, she passed the seance torch to Walter B Gibson, an American author and magician, who held the seances at the Magic Town House in New York City.  The torch was then passed to Dorothy Dietrich, American magician, who held the seances at the Houdini Museum in Scanton, Pa.

4. Harry's house at 278 West 113th Street in New York is thought to be haunted and is owned by an escape artist.

5.  Harry starred in six Hollywood movies and nine movies were made about him after his death.

6.  He began his career at nine years old when he performed as a trapeze artist under the name Ehrich, Prince of the Air.