Wednesday, October 14, 2026

Question: Harry Houdini gave his final performance in Detroit and died there on Halloween 1926. Legend blames a punch to the gut, but what actually killed the famed escape artist?

Answer: Peritonitis from a ruptured appendix. Houdini collapsed during and after his final show at Detroit’s Garrick Theatre on Oct. 24 and died a week later at Grace Hospital. Punches delivered by a McGill University student in Montreal days earlier may have worsened his condition, but there’s no proof they caused his appendicitis.