Harry Houdini

1493 Words3 Pages

Harry Houdini

What comes to mind when one thinks of Harry Houdini? There are many things one could say, magic, escapes, perseverance, hard work, determination, fame, etc. Houdini was a master magician as well as a superb escape artist. (Harry 1) Houdini was one of the most determined men in history. He was so obsessed with achieving his goal that no matter what got in his way he pushed it aside. Even if it were his parents he would ignore them. Many things got in his way but he was so focused that he ignored them. This is the story of the greatest Magician that ever lived.

On April 6th, 1874 Ehrich Weiss (Harry Houdini) was born to Rabbi Mayer Samuel Weiss and his wife Cecelia on March 24 in Budapest, Hungary. (Timeline 1874 1) After Erich was born, his father had many problems in Hungary and came to Wisconsin. The Weiss family joined Rabbi Weiss in Appleton, Wisconsin, where he led a small Reform congregation. At age nine, Ehrich and some neighborhood friends establish a five-cent circus. Wearing red

woolen stockings, he bills himself as "Ehrich, The Prince of the Air." (Timeline 1874 1) Harry Houdini lived a very rough childhood. His father had failure after failure. Since Weiss couldn’t survive in Wisconsin, he brought Erich with him to New York City. In the city, they lived in a boardinghouse on East Seventy-ninth Street. Ehrich works a variety of jobs to help support the family.

In 1891, Ehrich teamed up with Jacob Hyman, a friend from his job at neckwear cutting firm. They form a magic act called “The Brothers Houdini.” (Timeline 1874 1) All his life Ehrich loved magic. One magician he especially admired was Robert-Eugene Houdin. Ehrich started calling himself “Harry Houdini.” The next year Eric experienced a grave tragedy. His father died on October 5, 1892 at the age of 63. (Timeline 1874 1) Ehrich was seventeen years old. He had experienced such a hard life that he just kept on going. Many people said that his childhood was the reason that he was so mentally strong and determined. Meanwhile “Harry” as he called himself now was performing on the Midway at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

Later that same year, Jacob Hyman left The Brothers Houdini and was replaced by Harry’s brother Theodore, or Dash as he liked to be called. That summer, Harry met fellow performer Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner. After three weeks of getting to...

... middle of paper ...

...(Timeline 1912 1)

Later that year, the legacy of Harry Houdini ended as he died in Detroit on Halloween, from complications of appendicitis. Several days earlier, a student had struck him in the stomach in his dressing room, even though he was hurt, he refused to cancel his shows until it was too late. His death triggered mourning and tributes around the world.

Houdini's funeral was held on November 4th at the Elks Clubhouse on West Forty-third Street in New York. As many as two thousand mourners packed the ballroom, and the event was widely covered. (Timeline 1912 1)

In conclusion, I feel that Harry Houdini was the greatest Magician that ever lived. He was so talented that he was able to do more than just magic. He amazed people for years and was probably 100 years ahead of his time. Harry Houdini will never be forgotten for his achievements.

Works Cited

Harry Houdini, Master Magician: A study of a master’s childhood and how it affected his adulthood. December 13,2000

Timeline of Harry Houdini’s Life, 1874-1898 December 15, 2000

Timeline of Harry Houdini’s Life, 1899-1910 . December 15, 2000

Timeline of Harry Houdini’s Life, 1912-1926 December 15, 2000

Show More
Related

  • The Accretions of Gander, Nashoba, and Avalon onto the Laurentian Margin Martha Parsons

    2211 Words  | 5 Pages

    Marshak, S. (2009) Essentials of Geology, 3rd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, ch. 11, p. 298-320.

    Read More

  • Geological and Dispositional History of the Starved Rocks, Illinois

    840 Words  | 2 Pages

    The St. Peter sandstone lies in an unconformity. It is 250 feet thick, it can be up to 500 feet thick and it fills erosional channels in the underlying strata. Buffalo Rock is an erosional remnant of Ordovician St. Peter Sandstone and overlying Pennsylvanian clastics. Sign for swift, turbulent, and deep water includes gravel bars and erosional features that are 180 feet above the current level of the river and massive cross bedded sand and gravel deposits along the river course.

    Read More

  • Snows Of Klimanjaro And The Love Song Of J Alfred Prufrock Analysis

    1404 Words  | 3 Pages

    He discusses demise in the primary sentence, saying, “The marvelous thing is that it’s painless” (Hemingway 826). As the story creates, Harry as often as possible specifies his desire to pass on or the way he feels that passing is close now. “You can shoot me.” (Hemingway 826) and “I don’t want to move” (Hemingway 827), and “There is no sense in moving now except to make it easier for you” (Hemingway 827) and “Can’t you let a man die as comfortably as he can without calling him names? “ (Hemingway 827). It sounds as though Harry is surrendering, not so much, since he is a weakling, despite the fact that his wife calls him that, yet more since he feels that, it is more agreeable for him right now to set down and pass on as opposed to sitting tight for a truck or plane that will most likely never arrive. During the rest of the story, Harry has several moments when he feels the proximity of

    Read More

  • Physical Geography of Orange County

    909 Words  | 2 Pages

    This sedimentary rock has hardened over the many years with sand shells, small pebbles, grains of sand and rocks of various sizes. In comparison to our 4.5 billion year old Earth, these sand shells might as well be brand new, when in reality they could be up to 1,000 years old. If the sandstone were to be replaced with calcite it would completely change the subclass of rock, it would then be chemical & organic limestone. The variation in sand stone is due to different rates of deposition and change in patterns of the sediment movement (Mc Knight, p. 384). These tightly compacted varying stones and shells will be weathered away by wind and waves over time and could eventually be reduced to a rock the size of your hand.

    Read More

  • Richard Wright National Freedom Day

    856 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...rted Haitian coffee, until the outbreak of World War II curtailed that venture, and in 1945 he traveled to San Francisco as one of many African Americans who worked unofficially to incorporate their perspectives into the founding of the United Nations. Age can never slow you down from pursuing your dreams in life and reading this essay about my first President of Savannah State University Mr. Richard R. Wight has really taught me that. Just from the beginning of his life he was just on a path of greatness, and even after his retirement he felt that there was a need and he tried his best to meet it. With the bank he had opened during the war. Even after his death in 1947 he legacy is still alive and breathing for us future black scholars to grasp and make our own. Maybe one day I would be as popular and out spoken as Mr. Wight because now I know that “we are rising”.

    Read More

  • the decline of witchcraft prosecution in the 17th-18th centuries

    1661 Words  | 4 Pages

    Edward, Bever, 'Witchcraft Prosecutions and the Decline of Magic', Journal of Interdisciplinary History vol.11 no.2 (Autumn 2009)

    Read More

  • Isolation and Victimization in Henry1V

    2590 Words  | 6 Pages

    The most prominent feature of Prince Harry in the two Henry1V plays is his absolute isolation. When we first see Harry, he is a pariah and outlaw among his own people, the nobility, and a source of fear and misery for his family. He has no friends in any real sense, just pawns; unlike Hotspur, Mortimer, and even Falstaff, he has no lovers and shows no interest in sexual love. He stands alone in the world, and he stands against all the world. He is motivated only by suspicion, cruelty, pride, and greed for power. People are real to Harry only in so far as he can use them; and, ultimately, the future King can use people only when they are destroyed. His every step is toward death and destruction: the two plays begin with Harry's plot against his tavern friends, which culminates in the sacrificial expulsion of Falstaff, and end with rumours of war, the campaign against France, carried out for reasons of internal political advantage. Harry is what today is commonly described as a psychopath, and the plays demonstrate how such a man can become a successful king and defeat the world, a perfect blend of Machiavel (the immoral villain) and Machiavellian (the amoral strategist).

    Read More

  • Harry Houdini A Spy Essay

    963 Words  | 2 Pages

    Long after Houdini’s death, people have loved his magic shows and have been fascinated by his great escapes. Many magicians now idolize him, such as David Copperfield. When we think of magic today, our minds usually go to Houdini rather than the great magicians we have today. This is, of course, because Houdini shaped the history of magic throughout the world. He was one of the world's first most memorable magicians that we will all treasure for, hopefully,

    Read More

  • The Importance of Bravery In To Kill A Mockingbird

    579 Words  | 2 Pages

    Bravery is a very important theme in To Kill A Mockingbird. Many of the main characters show bravery in many different situations. These characters aren't always brave in the same ways, for example Atticus does the right thing even if he knows it won’t work out, Scout does scary things, while Calpurnia is courageous in general. This novel shows how important courage is in real life as well.

    Read More

  • To Have And Have Not

    1043 Words  | 3 Pages

    saw him blonde, with the sunburned hair, his face with the broad Mongol cheek bones, and the narrow eyes, the nose broken at the bridge, the wide mouth and the round jaw, and getting in the car he grinned at her and she began to cry.” (Hemmingway 128) Also worthy of notice, halfway through the book Harry losses his arm in a gunfight with some Cuban patrols on a liquor run.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Technology And Fads In The 1920s

    1067 Words  | 3 Pages

    And finally the entertainment changed with a man named Harry Houdini. Harry Houdini was around for a while but from 1919-1926 he did silent movies like "the master mystery". Then from 1920-1926 he did magic and fortune telling. He got his stardom from shameless self-promotion & sincere commitment to the public good. Houdini finally died in 1926 October 31st.

    Read More

  • Houdini's Magic Tricks More Dangerous

    67 Words  | 1 Pages

    My evidence support my main idea because Houdini try to make his magic tricks more dangerous and more entertaining. He did that because people try to copy his escape tricks. Then, Houdini turn to unknown person because people around the world was copying his acts. So,he made his acts treacherous.Also, he did that for entertain people and liking him. And he made the Milk can escape

    Read More

  • Harry Houdini Outline

    1305 Words  | 3 Pages

    I am doing my outline over Harry Houdini. Harry Houdini was a Hungarian-American illusionist and stunt performer. He was a very brave man who had a lot of insane escape acts and it all fell apart with one dumb idea. This outline iis going to be hard to get four pages but lets hope it gets there Mr. Webb.

    Read More

  • The Contributions Of The Harry Potter Series By JK Rowling

    1157 Words  | 3 Pages

    "Harry. You happen to have many qualities Salazar Slytherin prized in his hand-picked students. His own very rare gift, Parseltongue, resourcefulness, determination, a certain disregard for the rules ' he added, his moustache quivering again. "Yet it is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." ( Prisoner of

    Read More

  • Magic And Science

    1502 Words  | 4 Pages

    The first accounts of magic were recorded around 1700 B.C. It appeared on the Westcon Papyrus and was recorded by an Egyptian chronicler. Stories of magic were handed down for centuries (Blackstone, 12). It has made a profitable living for soothsayer and gypsies, but there are times when magic was a form of entertainment. During the seventeenth century magic has become a living for some entertainers. Jugglers, wizards, and fortunetellers often appeared as scrub than a man of talent. These respected entertainers attracted lots of attention, not only because of their flaming clothing, but also because of their talents. In time there were traveling performers. Magicians dressed up and traveled for town to town, setting up stages and booths attracting the attention of the people, as well as their money. Pretty soon this sorts of entertainment was everywhere. At fairs they perform when they attract a crowd, then they passed around a hat for donations as if they were beggars. They appeared in places like the market place, street corners, and even adult entertainment bars (Blackstone, 19).

    Read More

More about Harry Houdini

Open Document