Harry Houdini - American magician, escapologist, stunt performer, actor and film producer

Harry Houdini was a Hungarian-born American magician and escapologist, stunt performer, actor and film producer well-known for his sensational escape acts. He was also a skeptic who set out to depiction frauds purport to be supernatural phenomena. He performed in dime museums and sideshows, and still doubled as "The Wild Man" at a circus. Houdini focused originally on traditional card tricks. At a point, he billed himself as the "King of Cards". But he soon began experiment with escape acts.

He was never cleared how Houdini control to escape from his bonds. Arthur Conan Doyle counts him a medium that only perform as a prestidigitator. It is unspecified that Houdini swallowed the key to the handcuffs and won it back through vomiting unseen by his audiences, as he forever escaped from his bonds in a hidden place. Harry Houdini died of peritonitis, secondary to a rupture appendix. Eyewitnesses to an event in Montreal gave rise to speculation that Houdini's death was caused by a McGill University student, J. Gordon Whitehead, who delivered many blows to Houdini's abdomen to test Houdini's claim that he was capable to take any blow to the body above the waist without injury.

Born Name	Erik Weisz
Date Of Birth	March 24, 1874
Place Of Birth	Budapest, Austria-Hungary
Occupation	Magician, escapologist, stunt performer, actor, historian, film producer, pilot, debunker
Date Of Death	October 31, 1926
Place Of Death	Detroit, Michigan, U.S.

Maya Angelou - American autobiographer and poet, professor

Maya Angelou is one of the American autobiographer and poet who has been called "America's most visible black female autobiographer" by scholar Joanne M. Braxton. She is well known for her series of six autobiographical volumes, which focus on her childhood and early on adult experiences. The first and most greatly acclaimed, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), tells of her first seventeen years. It brought her international respect, and was nominated for a National Book Award. She has been awarded over 30 honorary degree and was selected for a Pulitzer Prize for her 1971 volume of poetry, Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'Fore I Diiie.

Angelou was a member of the Harlem Writers Guild in the late 1950s, was active in the Civil Rights movement, and served as Northern Coordinator of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Southern Christian Leadership Conference. A Tony Award nomination for her position in the 1973 play Look Away, and three Grammys for her spoken word albums. In 1995, Angelou's publishing company, Bantam Books, known her for having the longest running record on The New York Times Paperback factual Bestseller List. In 1998, she was induct into the National Women's Hall of Fame. She has provide on two presidential committees, and was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 2000 and the Lincoln Medal in 2008. Musician Ben Harper has privileged Angelou with his song "I'll Rise", which include words from her poem, "And Still I Rise." She has been awarded above thirty honorary degrees.

Born	Marguerite Ann Johnson
Date Of Birth	April 4, 1928
Place Of Birth	Saint Louis, Missouri, United States
Occupation	Poet, civil rights activist, dancer, film producer, television producer, playwright, film director, author, actress, professor
Ethnicity	African American
Literary movement	Civil rights