Free Republic

A goat that has been evading Kentucky police for years has become like a "pet" to area construction workers, one worker said. Police in Hardin County said the goat was dubbed "Houdini" by locals because it always manages to escape before officers can show up to capture it. The goat is most frequently seen around Interstate 65, and witnesses said he's been on the loose for years. "We would call animal control and state police, and every time they'd come to get him, he's gone," construction worker Peggy Gross told WAVE-TV. "Houdini -- the I-65 Goat. He's our pet out...

On September 21, 1912, magician Harry Houdini first publicly performed his so-called "Chinese Water Torture Cell" trick at the Circus Busch in Berlin, escaping after being immersed upside-down in a vertical water tank, his ankles secured in a set of stocks which made up the tank lid, which was locked into place. Houdini's Water Torture Cell The greatest and most sensational of all Houdini's escapes was without doubt his "Chinese Water Torture Cell.” In this trick, Houdini was to escape an extraordinary contraption resembling a fish tank. This is filled with water while Houdini is placed head down, in full...

NEW YORK - Eighty years after his death, the name Harry Houdini remains synonymous with escape under the most dire circumstances. But Houdini, the immigrants' son whose death-defying career made him one of the world's biggest stars, was more than a mere entertainer. A new biography of the legendary performer suggests that Houdini worked as a spy for Scotland Yard, monitored Russian anarchists and chased counterfeiters for the U.S. Secret Service — all before he was possibly murdered. "The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America's First Superhero" will be released on Halloween — the anniversary of Houdini's untimely...