Who was Harry Houdini?

Get ready to be amazed! Welcome to History's Not Boring! Have you ever seen someone escape from handcuffs, straitjackets, or even huge locked boxes filled with water? That was Harry Houdini! This incredible escape artist started his life as a little boy named Erik in Hungary before moving to America. By age nine, he was already performing! Learn how this master magician tricked the world. He made an entire elephant disappear on stage! What was his most dangerous trick—the scary Chinese Water Torture Cell? Find out how this man became the one person no lock or chain could hold! Prepare to be utterly baffled by the real-life magic of Houdini!

Correction: In this episode we stated that Houdini and his wife Bess used the code word "abracadabra" - the actual secret message was "Rosabelle believe," based on the song Bess was singing when they first met. The word was spelled out using a secret code magicians use during mentalism acts.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to History is Not Boring by Kidopoly.com. I'm Mira! And I'm Finn! We are so excited today because it's almost a full 100 years since one of the most amazing people in history left the world. He was the master of secrets, the king of getting out of impossible situations.

SPEAKER_01 0:20

Impossible situations? Like being stuck in a really tiny box. I get nervous just trying to open pickle jars.

SPEAKER_00 0:28

Way bigger than a pickle jar, Finn! Today we are talking about Harry Houdini, the world's greatest escape artist. He made elephants disappear and escaped from things that looked totally unbreakable.

SPEAKER_01 0:41

An elephant? How big was he escaping from? Was it heavier than our car?

SPEAKER_00 0:47

Wait till you hear the numbers. Get ready, because this man was the one person that no lot could ever truly hold. This is the story of Harry Houdini. So, our story starts way back in 1874 in Budapest, Hungary. That's where a little boy named Eric Weiss was born. He wasn't an escape artist right away. His family moved to the United States when he was just nine years old.

SPEAKER_01 1:13

Nine years old? That's when I was learning to ride my bike without training wheels. Did he start escaping locks right after he got off the boat?

SPEAKER_00 1:23

Not quite. He started performing in circuses, first as a trapeze artist. He learned about being strong and having amazing control over his body. But he found his real talent when he started practicing tricks with handcuffs. Handcuffs, like the police use.

SPEAKER_01 1:42

I hope they weren't locking him up for real.

SPEAKER_00 1:44

Mostly no, but he studied every kind of lock and chain. His real name became Harry Weiss, and he took the stage name Houdini after a famous magician named Jean-Robert Houdin. He decided he wanted to be better than everyone.

SPEAKER_01 2:02

So he was fighting with metal things. Did he have to learn how to pick locks? How many kinds of locks were there back then?

SPEAKER_00 2:09

He did. He learned about tumbler locks, lever locks, and padlocks. By 1895, he was already getting famous for escaping standard police handcuffs in under a minute. That was his early speciality. He wasn't just strong. He could contort his body into tiny spaces, sometimes squeezing out of a tight wrap in under 30 seconds.

SPEAKER_01 2:34

30 seconds? That's faster than I can tie my shoes. And he did this in front of audiences. How many people usually watched?

SPEAKER_00 2:43

Sometimes thousands. He performed all over America and Europe. He even had a famous opening challenge where he offered$1,000 to anyone who could successfully lock him up and keep him trapped for just five minutes. Nobody ever claims that money.

SPEAKER_01 3:00

Wow, so escaping handcuffs was easy for him. What was the next level of scary challenge he tried?

SPEAKER_00 3:07

The next level was strait jackets. Imagine being wrapped up in thick canvas straps that keep your arms tight to your sides. Police would often use five or six different locks on him.

SPEAKER_01 3:20

Straps and locks? But what if he couldn't move his arms to wiggle the lock open? That sounds really scary, Mira.

SPEAKER_00 3:28

That's the drama. Sometimes he'd hang upside down from a rope, suspended about 50 feet in the air. That's like stacking ten grown-up people on top of each other. He had to escape before the rope frayed or the supports gave way.

SPEAKER_01 3:44

50 feet? And he had to do it hanging upside down? That's terrifying.

SPEAKER_00 3:50

How long did these jacket escapes take? His record was unbelievably fast. For some straitjacket escapes, he managed it in less than one minute. He once escaped a straitjacket in front of a crowd of 2,000 people in St. Louis in just 47 seconds flat.

SPEAKER_01 4:10

47 seconds? That's less time than it takes to sing the chorus of my favourite song. But his scariest trick must have been the water one, right? The one where he was locked under water.

SPEAKER_00 4:21

You mean the Chinese water torture cell? This was his signature stunt. He would be lowered upside down into a tank filled with water, and then his ankles would be locked inside stocks, those wooden restraints that clamp your legs together.

SPEAKER_01 4:37

Locked? Upside down? In water? Oh no, how much air did he have? Was the tank big?

SPEAKER_00 4:43

The tank itself was about seven feet tall and 2.5 feet wide. He needed to escape before he ran out of breath. He usually stayed submerged for around three minutes, but sometimes longer, depending on the setup. It was pure drama. Three minutes underwater?

SPEAKER_01 5:01

That feels like forever when you hold your breath. Did anyone ever worry he wouldn't make it out of that water tank?

SPEAKER_00 5:09

Every single time, the audience gasped. He often let the drama build until the very last second. Once, in Boston, an assistant accidentally secured the leg irons too tightly, and he almost missed his window. But Toudini always had a secret trick, a tiny shim or a hidden tool to get that first piece of freedom.

SPEAKER_01 5:31

A secret tool? Like a tiny key hidden in his costume. That's amazing planning. Did he ever use these escape skills for something serious, not just shows?

SPEAKER_00 5:42

Yes, he was a real patriot. And during World War I, he volunteered to entertain the troops. He performed 108 shows for soldiers in places like army camps and hospitals in the United States.

SPEAKER_01 5:56

Wow, 108 shows for the soldiers. That's a lot of hard work. But back to the magic. You mentioned an elephant. How on earth do you make a real giant animal, Vanna?

SPEAKER_00 6:08

This was his grand illusion. In 1918, at the Hippodrome Theatre in New York, he put a massive elephant, weighing about 10,000 pounds. That's like 50 fully grown rhinoceroses, on stage.

SPEAKER_01 6:23

10,000 pounds? That's heavier than a school bus. Where did it go?

SPEAKER_00 6:28

He covered it with a huge sheet, maybe 60 feet long, and then pulled it away, and poof, gone. It was a massive trick, involving mirrors, hidden rooms, and a lot of clever engineering. He proved he could make anything disappear, not just himself.

SPEAKER_01 6:46

He really was the man no lock could hold, or no elephant could stay put. It sounds like he was always pushing himself to the very limit.

SPEAKER_00 6:55

He was, and sadly, that pushing is what led to the end of his story in 1926. He was in Montreal, Canada, and a student asked him if it was true he could take a punch without reacting. Houdini said yes, but before he was ready, the student punched him several times in the stomach. Oh no! Did the punch hurt him badly? It did. The hard hits caused a problem inside his body that doctors later said was very serious. Even though he kept performing for a few more days, he grew weaker. He passed away in Detroit, Michigan, on October 31, 1926. He was only 52 years old.

SPEAKER_01 7:37

That's so sad. He made people feel amazing, and then something like that happened. What changed because of him?

SPEAKER_00 7:44

He completely changed magic. Before him, magic was mostly about small tricks. He made it about incredible, death-defying stunts. Today, nearly every escape artist performing owes something to him. His influence is still huge.

SPEAKER_01 8:02

That's true. He set the high bar. What about a super weird, fun fact about the master escapist?

SPEAKER_00 8:09

Here's one. Houdini hated mediums who claimed to talk to the dead after someone died. He spent the last years of his life trying to expose fake psychics because he believed in real skill, not fake messages.

SPEAKER_01 8:26

Isn't that wild? He spent his life escaping tricks and then spent his later life trying to escape fake tricks. I love that. Did he have a famous secret word?

SPEAKER_00 8:37

He did. His wife Bess knew a secret code word they agreed on. Abra cadabra. If a medium ever claimed to channel Harry after he died, Bess would ask them for that word. None of the fake ones ever knew it.

SPEAKER_01 8:52

That is the best secret code ever. So he escaped every lock, exposed fakes, and made an elephant van.

SPEAKER_00 9:00

What a life! He truly did. He showed the world that with enough practice and courage, even the most impossible restraints can be broken. Now, are you ready for a quick challenge, Finn? Alright, Finn, quiz time. Are you ready to test what you remember about the man who conquered every lock?

SPEAKER_01 9:19

Okay, I'm ready. I hope I remember the elephant weight. First question.

SPEAKER_00 9:24

Harry Houdini was born in what European city before moving to the USA as a child? Next one. What was the name of his most famous, dangerous, water escape stunt? Question three. What object weighing about£10,000 did Houdini successfully make disappear on stage? Here's number four. Houdini often escaped police handcuffs in less than what amount of time? Last question. What was the secret code word that Houdini and his wife Bess used to expose fake mediums? Great job! Let's see how you did with those tricky details. The first answer is Budapest, Hungary. He was born there in 1874. For question two, the most dangerous water stunt was the Chinese water torture cell. Number three, the answer is an elephant. 10,000 pounds of disappearing act. Question 4. He was famous for escaping standard handcuffs in under one minute. And the final answer is abracadabra, a perfect password for an escape artist.

SPEAKER_01 10:48

I can't believe how many things he escaped from. He was so brave to face those underwater tanks and those tight straps.

SPEAKER_00 10:55

He really was. He showed us that even when you feel totally locked in, there's almost always a way out if you're clever and determined.

SPEAKER_01 11:04

It makes me want to give him five stars for an amazing life story. You said it, Finn.

SPEAKER_00 11:10

If you love learning about Harry Houdini's incredible escapes, please help us share history with more kids. Give us a five-star review wherever you listen. Just scroll down and tap those stars. It really helps other history fans find us.

SPEAKER_01 11:25

And our site, kidopoly.com, has tons of awesome learning games and activities to keep your brain busy.

SPEAKER_00 11:32

Yes, head over to kidopoly.com for more cool stuff to explore. And if you want to shout out on the show, or just want to tell us what you thought of the elephant trick, send an email to hello at kidopoly.com. Thanks for listening today, everyone. See you next time on History's Not Boring.