Mystery cloaked the life and performances of escape artist Harry Houdini—and it followed him into his death, perplexing experts for the past century.
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it → cloak → century
Houdini, a Hungarian born Erik Weisz, became one of the most famous magicians and vaudeville performers in history after immigrating with his family to the United States at 4.
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Houdini → bear → 4
He died 100 years ago on Oct. 31, 1926, at 52.
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He → die → 52
His official cause of death was listed as peritonitis, an infection caused by a ruptured appendix.
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cause → list → appendix
But since the day he died, theories about alternative causes have lived on.
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theories → die → causes
Some say a surprise punch to his stomach caused deadly appendicitis to the man who kept himself in peak physical condition.
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who → say → condition
Others insist he suffered from an intestinal blockage.
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he → insist → blockage
Some theorize that he was killed by people working as spirit mediums.
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he → theorize → mediums
He had been exposing them as frauds just before his death.
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He → expose → death
One of the most widespread myths was caused by a 1953 film in which Houdini was portrayed as unable to escape Water Torture Cell in time to save his own life.
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Houdini → cause → life
"There’s plenty of room for speculation, for conspiracy theories, and so it continues," Houdini historian and biographer John Cox told Fox News Digital.
"
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Cox → ’ → Digital
It continues to this day."
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It → continue → day
Houdini's story returns in the new three-part Fox Nation series "Houdini: Back from the Dead," where artificial intelligence helps him appear to sit down for a modern-day interview to recount his struggles, relationships and legendary feats.
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him → return → struggles
‘Poorly timed’ punch
A key event in the timeline of Houdini’s death is the now-famous series of punches to his stomach on Oct. 22, 1926.
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event → time → Oct.
Nine days before Houdini died, a university student named J. Gordon Whitehead visited the performer in his dressing room at a Montreal theater.
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student → die → theater
Historians report that Houdini was reclining on a couch when Whitehead asked if he could test his ability to withstand a blow to the stomach.
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he → report → stomach
Houdini obliged.
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Houdini → oblige → ?
But before he could brace himself, Whitehead began punching.
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Whitehead → brace → himself
It continued until another person in the room begged Whitehead to stop, said Roger Dreyer, President of Houdini Revealed, a museum in New York.
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Dreyer → continue → York
Many historians agree that because of the punches, Houdini ignored what actually were symptoms of appendicitis, Cox said.
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Cox → agree → appendicitis
Though some believed the blows caused the deadly inflammation, that was never proven.
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that → believe → inflammation
WATCH: Harry Houdini returns in new AI-powered Fox Nation series
"He didn't get it treated in time," Cox said.
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Cox → watch → time
"His appendix ruptured.
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appendix → rupture → ?
This caused peritonitis, which was a massive infection.
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which → cause → peritonitis
And back then, you died from that.
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you → die → that
"Had he not been punched, this pain would have come out of nowhere, and he might have gone and sought medical attention sooner.
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he → punch → attention
So the punch was very likely just a very poorly timed accident that caused him to not pay attention to what was really happening to him medically."
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what → time → him
Regardless, the punches brought a financial windfall to his family.
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punches → bring → family
Because the punches were blamed for killing him, his life insurance policy paid out double.
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policy → blame → him
"He had a life insurance [policy] of $25,000," Dreyer said.
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Dreyer → have → 25,000
The agreement was that "if he died from an accident, he received another $25,000.
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he → die → 25,000
Houdini had been fixated on the idea of death, because his daredevil behavior often brought him to the brink of it, Dreyer said.
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Dreyer → fixate → it
But Houdini also worked to expose as frauds people who claimed to communicate with the dead.
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who → work → dead
He believed their tactics were scams that targeted grieving people.
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that → believe → people
He faced defamation lawsuits for that, Dreyer said.
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Dreyer → face → that
He and his wife, Bess Houdini, made an agreement that if one of them died, they would try to contact the other.
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they → make → other
After his death, Bess Houdini held seances every Halloween for 10 years, attempting to make contact.
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Houdini → hold → contact
When none of her attempts were successful, she gave up, concluding contact with the dead wasn’t possible.
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contact → give → dead
One hundred years later, interest in Houdini lives on.
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interest → live → Houdini
That’s because he was more than just a performer, Dreyer said.
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Dreyer → ’ → performer
…and 9 more, not listed.
The Aporia
