Almanac of Absurdities for 10/24

On this day in 1926, J. Gordon Whitehead asked Harry Houdini if it were true that he could take any blow to the upper body without injury. The magician, who was already suffering from Appendicitis and fever, absently answered yes, at which time Whitehead struck him several times in the abdomen. Despite the injury, Houdini finished his performance at the Garrick Theatre in Detroit Michigan that day. He died on October 31st of Peritonitis due to ruptured appendix.