Harry Houdini spent his younger years as a trapeze performer in the circus and various vaudeville shows with little success. His father was a rabbi and emigrated to the US from Hungary then settled in New York City in 1882. Houdini gained an international reputation for daring feats by 1900. He escaped from handcuffs, shackles, ropes, and containers such as milk cans, coffins, or prison cells. A typical act would have him chained and locked in a box which was then weighted and roped.
