Harry Houdini
Throughout his life, Harry Houdini claimed that he was born April 6, 1874 in Appleton, Wisconsin. In fact, he was born with the name Ehrich Weisz on March 24, 1874, in Budapest, Hungary. His father was Mayer Samuel Weisz, a religious teacher. Ehrich was a child of his father's second wife, Cecilia Steiner; six of their children survived to adulthood. Mayer emigrated to America and changed the spelling of his last name to Weiss. He served as a rabbi to a Jewish congregation in Appleton. Stories of Houdini performing magic and escapes while in Appleton have never been verified. Houdini's mother claimed that as a child Houdini learned to open locked cabinets to get at pies and sweets she had baked, but the story may be more legend than fact. Mayer Weiss' religious views may have led to his dismissal as a rabbi and therefore, the family moved to Milwaukee when Ehrich (Houdini) was about eight. Houdini claimed that October 28, 1883 was the date of his first appearance before an audience. The nine year-old Houdini performed on a trapeze hung from a tree; Houdini performed as "Ehrich, the Prince of the Air."