Here is a cool artifact of Harry Houdini, courtesy of kottke.org. It’s audio from a 1914 wax cylinder that Edison made of the master of escape. In the clip, Houdini describes his Water Torture Cell trick.

If you’re unfamiliar with Jason Kottke and his site, he’s one of the original bloggers and has been serving up intelligent posts since before most people heard of the word “blog.” Everyone who came after and tried to do something smart in the format owes him a debt. To learn more about his early days as a blogger, have a look at this 2000 New Yorker piece by Rebecca Mead (subscription required).

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More Harry Houdini posts:

• Houdini and Jack Dempsey “square off.”

• Houdini makes an elephant disappear in 1918.

• How Houdini got his start in show business.