[This is a News item] Harry Houdini was born into a Jewish family in Budapest, Hungary. His given name is found spelled differently in different sources and also his birth date is uncertain. However, years after his death a copy of his birth certificate was found and published in The Houdini Birth Research Committee’s Report (1972).
According to that original source, he was born on March 24, 1874 as Erich Weisz. Houdini himself spelled his name Ehrich Weiss, as can be seen from this letter to his mother. As to his birth date, from 1900 onwards Houdini claimed in interviews to have been born in Appleton, Wisconsin on April 6, 1874.
Posted on March 20th, 2007 by testguy6
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