In the late 19th century, a young man by the name of Eric Weiss decided to pursue a career in magic and illusion.

To honor his favorite magician, he took the name the Great Hudini.

He became one of the most successful magicians in history and also found success in motion pictures and aviation.

However, his career came to an end with his untimely death at the age of 52, the cause of which is still debated to this day. Learn more about the legend of Harry

Houdini on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. The man the world would come to know is Harry Hudini was born Eric Weiss in

1874 to a Jewish family in Budapest, Hungary. As a child, this family immigrated to the United States in

1878, where his father took a position as a rabbi in the small town of Appleton,

Wisconsin. More on that in a bit. Four years later, his father lost his job and the family moved to Milwaukee, fell destitute, and five years later the family moved to New York City.

When Eric was just nine years old in Milwaukee, he began his career performing for the public

when he appeared as a Trapeze artist known as Eric Prince of the Air.

In 1890, he started to show interest in magic magic and gave himself the stage name Harry

Houdini. The name was taken in honor of a French magician he respected by the name

of Jean-ugine Robert Houdin who was considered to be the father of modern magic and illusion.

He mistakenly thought that adding the eye to the end of a word, turning Houdin into Houdini,

meant belonging to in French, which it does not.

His first name Harry, he said, was a nod to the American magician Harry Keller.

When he started performing magic, he wasn't doing the type of act that would make him famous.

He did some traveling with the circus and performed in vaudeville shows,

and his initial magic consisted of simple card tricks in sleight of hand.

He met his wife, Bess Rhonner, while performing Magic and Coney Island.

As a sleight of hand magician, he was competent but not great, despite the fact that he would

bill himself as the King of Cards. In the late 1890s he began to shift his focus from

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