Harry Houdini suddenly died Halloween night of 1926. Nobody knows exactly why.

Some
people believe that he was punched in the gut (Houdini made a statement that you could punch
him as hard as you can but he wont feel pain or get hurt) just the wrong way. I dont believe that
at all. I believe it was homicide. In Houdinis prime (early 20th century), there were a lot of great
magicians, including Cardini, Dai Vernon, Joseph Dunninger, Signfried and Roy, Doug
Henning, etc. But, there is one really famous one, by the name of Howard Thurston, who was
particularly interesting. He was one of Houdinis biggest competitions, and it definitely was not a
friendly battle. They both despised each other, and always tried to one-up each ones
performances.
One day, Thurston challenged Houdini to escape a box that was hanging from a burning
rope over the water. Of course, Houdini had to accept. The day arrived when the event were to
take place. Houdini was handcuffed, and leg cuffed. He was put in the box that was locked by a
standard combination lock. Of course, Houdini thought ahead, and put a paper clip in his mouth
so he could pick the lock. What Houdini did not know was that the box was soldered shut.