Truly a day to celebrate. My last posts were about famous artists who died on this day. But now we can at least celebrate the BIRTH of someone, Erich Weiss. Indeed, Erich, who would grow up to be Harry Houdini, was born this day March 24th in 1874. Interestingly, he never claimed this particular date as the date he was born. It took numerous historians to uncover the truth many many years after his death.
Weiss/Houdini always wanted to be considered American. By choosing the date April 6th, 1874, that, according to him, made him American. He was a shining example of what it was like to be an American, patriotic, confident, determined. And yet, he also had his negative side braggadocios, confrontational, even somewhat of a bully when he would attack fellow escape artists with gimmicked cuffs. But mostly he was beloved by the public. He was American's champion, likable, friendly, and they always rooted for his success!
He would go on to become an escape artist, a magician, an illusionist, a movie star, a radio star, a pioneer aviator, an author, an investigator into fake spirit mediums, a debunker of many false things, and more. He was and still is an inspiration for many people old and young. There would be no Magic Detective Blog, Podcast, or frankly, no Carnegie, had it not been for his influence in my life. Long Live Harry Houdini!!!