LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Harry Houdini: Performing
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Harry Houdini (March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a human from Earth who lived in the 19th and 20th centuries. Houdini was regarded as one of the best escape artists in human history.
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Due to the vast number of imitators of his Milk Can escape, in 1911, Houdini replaced the Milk Can with his most famous escape: The Chinese Water Torture Cell. In this escape, Houdini's feet would be locked in stocks, and he'd be lowered upside down into a tank filled with water. The mahogany and metal cell featured a glass front, through which audiences could clearly see Houdini. The stocks would be locked to the top of the cell, and a curtain would conceal his escape. In the earliest version of the Torture Cell, a metal cage was lowered into the cell, and Houdini was enclosed inside that. While making the escape more difficult (the cage prevented Houdini from turning), the cage bars ... offered protection should the glass front break.
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In 1900, Houdini's breakthrough came when he successfully broke free after being wrapped around a pillar and handcuffed at Scotland Yard. The publicity from that escape led more appearances and his fame quickly spread. Houdini eventually performed in Germany and then throughout Europe. Oftentimes Houdini called upon local police to restrain him, but he continually confounded the authorities and escaped. To increase publicity, Houdini ... jumped into rivers while handcuffed and chained. Allowing the suspense to build, Houdini remained underwater long after many observers were certain he couldnt survive, only to spring up, waving the chains over his head.
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Houdini was on the venue of the Hopkins Theatre in Chicago for gaining public attention after he repeatedly escaped from local police handcuffs and even from jail. After touring America, he began touring Europe with great success. Houdini, knowing the public always demanded more and wanting to keep ahead of his rivals, would escape from coffins, straightjackets and anything else he could think of.
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Houdini's last performance was at the Garrick Theatre in Detroit, Michigan on October 24, 1926. The next day he was hospitalized at Detroit's Grace Hospital. Houdini died of peritonitis from a ruptured appendix at 1:26 p.m. on Halloween, October 31, 1926, at the age of 52.
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While on tour, Houdini was approached in his dressing room by a fan and asked if he could withstand a punch in the stomach. He wasn't given enough time to prepare and it is thought that this blow ruptured Houdini's appendix. He died on October 31, 1927, at the age of 52.
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