On this day in New York · July 7, 1912
Houdini Goes Overboard
Blocked by the NYPD at Pier 6, Houdini steered a tugboat to federal waters off Governors Island, had himself nailed into a weighted crate, and was free from the East River in 57 seconds.
The facts
- Date
- July 7, 1912
- Location
- Off Governors Island, New York Harbor; originally planned for Pier 6, East River, until police intervened
- Escape time
- 57 seconds
- Lead ballast
- 200 pounds added to the nailed and roped crate
On July 7, 1912, Harry Houdini staged his first overboard box escape in New York Harbor, a stunt that pushed his act out of the theater and into the city itself. He had planned to do it at Pier 6 on the East River, but the NYPD shut him down before he could start. Houdini loaded a press contingent onto the tugboat Catherine Moran and headed for waters off Governors Island, which was federal land and beyond the department's reach. Shackled in handcuffs and leg-irons, nailed into a packing crate roped and weighted with 200 pounds of lead, he went over the side and surfaced free in under a minute. The crate came back up sealed, the manacles still inside.
In their words
The day in the words of the people who were there. Every quote is verbatim, and every source links out so you can check it.
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At the end of fifty-seven seconds, there was a splash beside the box, and Houdini bobbed into view.
Harrisburg Sunday Courier, June 15, 1930
Source: Click Americana
Why it still matters
The overboard box turned Houdini's act into a New York event, proof that the harbor and the press corps were all the stage he needed. He performed it at least seven more times outdoors, each one a template for the kind of city-swallowing spectacle New York still does better than anywhere.
Sources
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