No Escape

Magician and unstoppable escape artist Harry Houdini was born on this day in 1874.

Ehrich Weiss, a.k.a. Harry Houdini, was born in Budapest, Hungary and immigrated with his family to Wisconsin in 1878. Weiss later moved to New York City as a young man and started a magic act with his friend in 1891. The called themselves "The Brothers Houdini." Thereafter, Weiss was known by his now-famous assumed name.

"The Brothers Houdini" eventually became "The Houdinis" when Harry replaced his partner with his new wife, Bess, in 1893. By 1895, Houdini began experimenting with public escape tricks. Over the years, his stunts became more and more complicated and thrilling for his audiences.

Some of Houdini's most famous exploits involved restraint and submergence under water—such as his 1912 debut of an escape from a Chinese water torture cell. This acqueous image by photographer Connie Imboden evokes Houdini's mysterious and amazing underwater feats.

Pictured: Connie Imboden, born 1953, Untitled (figure in water), 1988, gelatin silver print, 15 3/4 x 20 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase.