The act that cost the life of the great legendary Harry Houdini (1874-1926) Houdini had a great fascination for danger. He always searched ways to make his escapes better and more dangerous each time. During this search Houdini creates an act inspired on a Chinese torture. This torture consisted in the use of a water tank to execute war prisoners by drowning. Houdini added two major differences to this torture. First, once the Chinese entered their victim in the tank, they filled it with water drop by drop. On the contrary Houdini had his tank already filled with water up to the rim, leaving him with no air to breathe, thus drastically cutting his time to accomplish his escape. Second, Houdini changes the original positioning and decides to do it while upside down making the escape impossible to accomplish because the locks are on top of the tank. Also, this position cuts the lung resistance by half. The narrow tank was made of glass and wood which measured two feet by two feet at the base and six feet tall. It filled up with 225 gallon of water. This escape was very different to what he was used to, during one of his rehearsals he fractured his ankle while being lifted into the Chinese Water Torture Cell. This escape had many problems to overcome and the risks were getting bigger. Harry Houdini introduces this escape for the very first time in Germany in 1912 when he was 38 years old. Even though it was a near death experience for him, the escape was a huge success and gained a lot of publicity. His wife, Beatrice, was very worried by the risks involved and convinces Harry not to do it again. Harry accepts and gives orders to put the Torture Cell away. Not until 1926, now with 52 years of age, for a gala performance in Detroit, Michigan, that Houdini decides to try the Water Torture Cell again without his wife’s knowledge. Once the theater curtain opened and she saw the tank, she tried to stop Harry because she had a bad feeling regarding the escape. But it was too late Houdini was already submerged in the water. Everything went horribly wrong and his staff had to break the glass in order to save him but the master of escapes died on stage. His wife to maintain the reputation of her husband blames the failure to a sudden appendicitis attack. Houdini clearly stated in his will that all his secrets, books and props should be burned to avoid anybody from using his creations. His petition was not fulfilled and his belongings ended up in museums and private collections. Ironically, the Houdini Museum in Ontario, Canada where the Chinese Water Torture Cell was exhibited caught fire and everything was destroyed including the tank. There are very few magicians and historians who claim to know the true secret of the Water Torture Cell and there are even less who have actually attempted the escape.