| Harry
Houdini was one of the greatest magicians of all time. His real name was
Erich Weiss. He was born on April 6th, 1874 in Appleton, Wisconsin. He
had five brothers and one sister. When he was nine, he had his first appearance
in front of an audience as a trapeze performer at a circus.
One day, while working as an apprentice for a locksmith, Houdini's life changed. A man got arrested and tried to take off his handcuffs by using a key from his pocket. The key broke off into the handcuffs, so no one could get them off. The man was brought to the locksmith, where Houdini was working, to get them cut off. After breaking many saw blades, Harry decided to pick the lock on the handcuffs, and succeeded. At the age of nineteen, 1894, Harry met Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner. After only ten days of knowing each other, Harry and "Bess" were married. They worked together and they called themselves, "Master Monarchs of Modern Mystery". In 1898 Houdini opened a school of magic where he taught many young magicians. He continued performing his magic throughout Europe and the United States. He worked hard to master all of his tricks. In 1912, his mother died. On October 31, 1926, after performing his last show, Harry died at age 52. |