Houdini, Harry

1874 – He was born in Budapest, Hungary.

1878 – He immigrated with his family to the United States.

1894 – He became a professional magician, and began calling himself “Harry Houdini.

1899 – He soon began experimenting with escape acts. Harry Houdini’s “big break” came this year.

1900 – He traveled to Europe to perform.

1901 – He made his first movie for Pathé this year.

1904 – He returned to the U.S. and purchased a house for $25,000.

1907 – He performed with great success in the United States until 1910.

1908 – He put his “handcuff act” behind him and began escaping from a locked, water-filled milk can.

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.

1910 – He toured Australia.

1918 – He signed a contract with film producer B.A. Rolfe to star in a fifteen part serial The Master Mystery.

1923 – He became president of Martinka & Co., America’s oldest magic company.

1926 – He died this year.