This Day in History October 24, 1926

Tweet

The Library of Congress, http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/haventohome/haven-century.html [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

In 1874, Erik Wiesz was born in Hungary.  In 1891, this young man became "The Handcuff King."  Of course, his magic is legendary, and he is remembered as Harry Houdini.  It was on this date in 1926, that he gave his last performance.  He went to Detroit, Michigan, and he performed at Garrick Theater.  He was reportedly suffering from a 104 degree temperature, and he passed out during the show.  They had to revive him, but he completed his show.  Following the show, he was taken to Grace Hospital.  He died on October 31 (isn't that kind of eerie?) from peritontis (inflammation of the inner tissue of the abdomen) due to a ruptured appendix.  He evidently also had pneumonia.  Pretty bad prognosis, eh?

For more information, please check out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Houdini
http://suite101.com/article/houdinis-death-a279270
http://jacks-attic.com/2009/05/08/houdinis-last-performance-our-latest-dark-art-pendant/
http://famousdaily.com/history/harry-houdini-final-performance.html