THIS WEEK IN HISTORY: 1926
Escape artist Harry Houdini was felled by an unexpected punch to the stomach
Harry Houdini gained international fame for his miraculous escapes from chains, handcuffs and straitjackets, usually while under water or dangling in midair.
But he was no match for a McGill University student who unexpectedly punched him in the stomach.
The punch, or punches, ruptured his appendix. Houdini was in instant pain, and developed a fever and a temperature of 40 C.
But he carried on with his performances for three days before collapsing and being taken to a hospital in Detroit, where his appendix was removed.
Unfortunately, the poison from his ruptured appendix had spread. On Oct. 31, 1926, the great escape artist died.
“Houdini, Handcuff King, Fails to Break Grip of Death,” read the front-page headline in the Vancouver Daily Province.
Houdini officially died from peritonitis, an inflammation of the lining in the abdomen. And he was a showman to the end.
“The body will rest in the special airtight bronze coffin Houdini recently had made to prove his contention that anyone could live without air for an hour if they did not let fear overcome them,” reported The Vancouver Sun. “It was Houdini’s expressed wish that he buried in that coffin.”
In 1926, Houdini was one of the most famous people in the world.
“Houdini’s name was known around the globe, for he had been around the globe and he had amazed, entertained, astounded — and enlightened — the people of all lands,” said the Province. “For Houdini was not only the most skilful illusionist of all times, he was a passionate crusader against the misuse of trickery.
“He had written learned books on the history of magic, had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in tedious personal investigation, had kept private detectives at his own expense in many cities simultaneously, had fought every attempt to commercialize or exploit the eternal mystery of life after death.”
Houdini was a bit of a mystery himself. The Sun reported he was “popularly supposed to be of Oriental birth,” but was “born in Wisconsin.” Except he wasn’t. He was born Erik Weisz in Budapest, Hungary, on March 24, 1874.
When he was four, his family emigrated to the United States, first to Appleton, Wis., and later to New York.
His father was a rabbi, but young Erik Weisz (whose name was Germanized to Ehrich Weiss in the U.S.) was infatuated with showbiz. His New York Times obituary said he joined a travelling circus at nine as a contortionist and trapeze artist. Inspired by the autobiography of French magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin, he adopted the stage name Harry Houdini.
“From 1885 to 1900, he played all over the United States, in museums, music halls, circuses, and medicine shows, gradually improving his technique and giving up his purely contortionistic and acrobatic feats,” said the Times.
“In 1900, he made his first visit abroad, and in London his sensational escapes from handcuffs at Scotland Yard won him a six-month engagement at the Alhambra. This was the first instance of his cleverly obtaining notoriety by a public or semi-public exhibition outside the theatre. No other showman, unless it was Barnum, knew better how to arouse the curiosity and amazement of the public in this manner.”
Houdini often did public stunts to promote his shows. On March 1, 1923, he was suspended upside down, in shackles and a straitjacket, outside The Vancouver Sun offices. He wriggled out in three minutes and 39 seconds.
Houdini was only 52 when he died. There is a theory that he already had appendicitis before the infamous punch on Oct. 20, 1926 by McGill student Jocelyn Gordon Whitehead.
Houdini had apparently said he could withstand any blow to the abdomen, if he prepared himself. But Whitehead reportedly punched him three times without warning, while Houdini was reclining after a speech.
“It appears that Whitehead’s punch to Houdini’s stomach, while not fatal, aggravated an existing but still undetected case of appendicitis,” says a story on the McGill Archives website. “Although in serious pain, Houdini nonetheless continued to travel without seeking medical attention.”