His hand eventually broke free, and he was pulled to safety - and passed out once he was back on the ground. He was buried alive in a dirt pit, then started to panic as he desperately clawed his way out. They included escaping from a locked milk can filled with water releasing himself from a straitjacket while dangling by his feet from a rope above a city street and the famous Chinese Water Torture Cell, which forced Houdini to hold his breath for more than three minutes while getting out of a glass and steel cabinet overflowing with water, all while suspended upside down. > Related: 5 facts about the charming Charlie Chaplinīeginning in 1907, Houdini's American productions got bigger and more dangerous. They eventually took their escape show to Europe, where Houdini challenged local police in several countries to keep him restrained with shackles and locked in jail. Beck booked the Houdinis on the vaudeville circuit. Houdini got his big break in 1899, when he impressed manager Martin Beck with his ability to break out of handcuffs. In 1893, he married Wilhelmina “Bess” Rahner, who would become his stage assistant. 'Harry' is a derivative of his childhood nickname, Ehrie, while 'Houdini' is an homage to one of his idols, French magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin. The concepts behind his German trick are what lead him to design his most famous act: milk container escape act. He launched his professional magic career in 1891 and changed his name once again. The Weiss family eventually moved to New York City, where 9-year-old Ehrich took a job as a trapeze artist.

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