In it, Houdini was suspended by his feet and lowered upside-down in a locked glass cabinet filled with water, requiring him to hold his breath for more than three minutes to escape. In 1912, his act reached its pinnacle, the Chinese Water Torture Cell, which would be the hallmark of his career.

He was able to escape because of both his uncanny strength and his equally uncanny ability to pick locks. Houdini continued his act in the United States in the early 1900s, constantly upping the ante from handcuffs and straightjackets to locked, water-filled tanks and nailed packing crates. The show was a huge sensation, and he soon became the highest-paid performer in American vaudeville. Houdini's feats would involve the local police, who would strip search him, place him in shackles and lock him in their jails. In 1899, Houdini's act caught the attention of Martin Beck, an entertainment manager who soon got him booked at some of the best vaudeville venues in the country, followed by a tour of Europe. In 1893, he married fellow performer Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner, who would serve as Houdini's lifelong stage assistant under the name Beatrice 'Bess' Houdini. (Although he later wrote The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin, a study that set out to debunk Houdin’s skill.) Though his magic met with little success, he soon drew attention for his feats of escape using handcuffs. In 1894, Weisz launched his career as a professional magician and renamed himself Harry Houdini, the first name being a derivative of his childhood nickname, 'Ehrie,' and the last an homage to the great French magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin. It was there that he became interested in trapeze arts. When he was 13, Weisz moved with his father to New York City, taking on odd jobs and living in a boarding house before the rest of the family joined them. One of seven children born to a Jewish rabbi and his wife, Weisz moved with his family as a child to Appleton, Wisconsin, where he later claimed he was born.

Houdini was born Erich Weisz on March 24, 1874, in Budapest, Hungary. Houdini continued performing escape acts until his death, on October 31, 1926, in Detroit, Michigan. In 1893, he married Wilhelmina Rahner, who became his onstage partner as well. Fascinated with magic from a young age, Harry Houdini began performing and drew attention for his daring feats of escape.

Houdini torture cell