LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Harry Houdini: Magic
built 662 days ago
In 1909, just six years after the Wright brothers proved that human flight was possible, Houdini became fascinated with airplanes. He bought his own plane, and learned to drive a car solely in order to get to the airport faster. In 1910, he became the first to successfully fly a plane in Australia. After that flight... his interest ended and he never piloted a plane or drove a car again. Houdini was also a great collector, with extensive collections of locks, magic memorabilia, autographs, historical items and, especially, books. Houdini collected so many books that he hired a full-time librarian to care for them, and traveled with hundreds at a time.
Source:
Harry could escape from anything, from handcuffs to straight jackets. Harry first began getting famous by getting out of handcuffs. People were very amazed. Many people did not believe Harry Houdini`s magic was just serious tricks. Instead, they believed that Harry had real magic powers, like wizards! That really upset Harry a lot.The most popular trick was when he was tied up in chains, then locked inside a trunk and thrown in the water.
Source:
In 1899, when Houdini decided to stop doing traditional magic and instead concentrate on escapes, his career took off. He created several dramatic escapes. In 1908, in St. Louis, Houdini introduced his escape from a giant milk can filled with water. It became a very popular trick and he took it on tour throughout the U.S., England, and Germany. What kind of escape could top this? For his next escape, Houdini had to come up with something even more dramatic than the Giant Milk Can escape, and he did.
Source:
Magic was Erich's second obsession - indeed, "the abounding takes of his childhood magical exploits carry the mythic fuzz Houdini liked to generate, " as Brandon wrote. After serving as a young circus acrobat (Eric, Prince of the Air) the teenager focused his attention on locks and lockpicking. He financed his hobby by working as a necktie cutter - the garment trade being one of the few occupations open to Jews at that time.
Source:
In the early 1900's while performing on the vaudeville circuit, Houdini worked with a couple named Keaton. Their young son Joseph was intrigued by Houdini's amazing magic, and Houdini was quite taken with the boy. Houdini nicknamed him "Buster", and the name stuck, explaining how Buster Keaton, the famous film comedian, got his name.
Source:
Houdini began working on picking locks and working on his magical tricks. When he found the time he would go to locksmith shops and banks and ask if he could practice on their locks.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Magic