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Chronicling America is a searchable digital collection of historic newspaper pages through 1963 sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress.
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Also, see the Directory of U.S. Newspapers in American Libraries, a searchable index to newspapers published in the United States since 1690, which helps researchers identify what titles exist for a specific place and time, and how to access them.
Harry Houdini (1874-1926) escapes from an underwater box in front of fifteen thousand people in New York on July 15, 1914. Houdini, known as the 'Handcuff King,' made numerous notable escapes from the beginning of his career in the 1890's until his death in 1926, including wriggling out of a straightjacket while suspended in the air as well as escaping being buried alive. Read more about it!
The information in this guide focuses on primary source materials found in the digitized historic newspapers from the digital collection Chronicling America.
The timeline below highlights important dates related to this topic and a section of this guide provides some suggested search strategies for further research in the collection.
| January 7, 1906 | Houdini escapes from a Washington, DC jail. |
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| September 29, 1906 | Houdini escapes from a piano box. |
| September 23, 1907 | Houdini performs his handcuff trick in 8 ½ minutes, baffling police officers. |
| September 29, 1907 | Houdini leaps into a lake heavily handcuffed and shackled, escaping death. He writes about his life and career in a full page spread. |
| July 16, 1914 | A crowd of 15,000 watches a shackled Houdini escape from a box after being thrown into the water. |
| December 8, 1915 | Houdini argues with boxer Jess Willard at an event, winning the crowd over with his witty comments. |
| April 18, 1916 | Houdini is set to perform his straitjacket trick 100 feet in air. |
| January 6, 1918 | Houdini is set to perform his vanishing elephant trick at the Hippodrome Theatre in New York. |
| December 28, 1919 | Houdini preserves his tricks on film for prosperity. |
