Centennial of Houdini's Death?

Harry Houdini is perhaps the most famous magician–and skeptic–of all time. Escape artist, stage magician, silent movie star, and skeptical investigator of seance mediums and other phonies. This Halloween marks the 100th anniversary of his death.

As the story goes, Houdini, born Erik Weisz in Budapest, bragged about his fitness to take any punch. While in Montreal in October 1926, a college student unexpectedly took that challenge. Houdini died nine days later of a ruptured appendix. 

Or is that right? This interesting piece in the New York Times looks at the accepted story with a skeptical eye. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/20/arts/houdini-death-mystery.html 
(no paywall, but you need to create a free account)

The article not only offers an alternative narrative but also suggests that he actually died on October 30, not Halloween.

Houdini has many connections to the national capital area: 

• D.C. City Jail / Murderers' Row (January 6, 1906): Stripped, searched, and locked inside Cell No. 2 in the south wing, Houdini escaped in 2 minutes, then unlocked all 17 cells, swapped the positions of the inmates, dressed, and walked out to the warden's office in 21 minutes.

• Tenth Precinct Station House (January 1906): Houdini successfully broke out of a locked cell in the Parkview neighborhood station after being searched and locked in.

• Suspended Straitjacket Stunt (April 19, 1916): Houdini hung suspended upside down in a straitjacket near the Washington Post/Munsey building at Pennsylvania and E Streets NW, drawing massive crowds.

• B.F. Keith's Theater Straitjacket Escape (January 12, 1922): Houdini performed his iconic upside-down straitjacket escape high above the Riggs Building at G and 15th Streets NW (right across from the U.S. Treasury Building – now the location of Old Ebbitt Grill), watched by thousands of spectators. (photo above)

Whatever the circumstances of his death, we know that he bequeathed his personal collection of magic and memorabilia to the Library of Congress. The collection of nearly 4000 books includes a 1651 edition of Reginald Scot’s Discoverie of Witchcraft, perhaps the first book in English to debunk witches and the supernatural in general as sleight-of-hand trickery rather than occult forces.

Penn & Teller, longtime friends of NCAS, made a short video of their visit to the Houdini collection at the Library of Congress. It isn’t exactly historically accurate, but it is fun 3.5 minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_PkSfIjlTE

--Chip Denman

Special Events Coming October 13 and 22

October 13 is International Skeptics Day!

NCAS will be participating in the Global Skeptics in the Pub, live on Zoom. Pour your favorite beverage and join everyone online.

October 22

Fact-Checking in a World of Misinformation

A Conversation with Glenn Kessler, Formerly The Washington Post's "Fact Checker"

For more than 15 years, Glenn Kessler led "The Fact Checker" team at The Washington Post, examining politicians' claims and researching the facts behind those claims. By providing detailed findings and ratings ("Pinocchios") of the truthfulness of claims, "The Fact Checker" freed its readers from the traditional journalistic approach of simply publishing dueling quotes of rival politicians. However, as of 2025, "The Fact Checker" column has ended.  What happened, and what are the prospects for journalists to carry on this work?

Mr. Kessler will be interviewed by Joel Achenbach, former staff writer/science journalist at The Washington Post. The National Capital Area Skeptics will be honoring Mr. Kessler with the 2026 Philip J. Klass Award for outstanding promotion of critical thinking and scientific understanding. The Klass Award was also presented to Mr. Achenbach in 2011.

Thursday, October 22, 2026
7:30 p.m. ​to 9:30 pm
Media and Public Affairs Building, 5th Floor Studio
805 21st Street NW, Washington DC 20052

Reception to follow.

All are welcome, but advance registration is required.
Pre-registration does not guarantee a seat. Entry is first-come, first-served until the venue reaches its capacity. 

Reserve here: https://tinyurl.com/Kessler2026

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Before the public program, we are offering a special opportunity: one of just six supporter seats at a private dinner with Glenn and Joel.

All seats at the dinner have been claimed. There are still a few seats available for the free event above.

The dinner will be held from 5:00–7:00 p.m. in the private State Room at RIS in Washington, D.C., a short walk from the George Washington University event venue. With only ten people at the table—including Glenn, Joel, and their guests—this will be a genuinely intimate gathering and a rare opportunity for extended, informal conversation with two journalists who have spent decades covering science, politics, public policy, and the sometimes difficult business of separating fact from fiction.

We are asking each of the six supporters to make a $500 contribution to NCAS. NCAS will host the dinner, and proceeds remaining after expenses will support the Klass Award and future NCAS programming. Your contribution will also give you a one-year NCAS membership or extend yours if you are already a member. So this is more than an unusual evening: your support will help us bring compelling speakers and programs to Washington, reach new audiences, and build a stronger future for NCAS.

You may request a seat for a guest as well; just note that the $500 contribution applies to each seat.  

If you’d like to join us, email us at rsvp@ncas.org, and we’ll send you the contribution details and instructions for reserving your seat(s). With only six supporter seats available, we encourage you to respond soon.

After the dinner, the Klass Award program itself begins at 7:30 p.m. at George Washington University’s Media and Public Affairs Building. This part of the evening is free and open to the public, but reservations are required. The Eventbrite link for RSVP for the public session is https://tinyurl.com/kessler2026.

We hope you’ll join us for what should be a memorable evening—and help make many more NCAS programs possible.

Skeptical Eye: News from NCAS July 2026

CSICon 2026

May 1st of this year marked the 50th anniversary of the modern skeptical movement, born near Buffalo, New York, on the second day of the American Humanist Association’s 35th annual conference.  The theme for that day’s talks was, “The New Irrationalisms: Antiscience and Pseudoscience.”  (Read more about this in James Alcock’s Skeptical Inquirer article, “Fifty Years of the Modern Skeptical Movement.”)

To commemorate this auspicious milestone, the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry held its annual conference (CSICon) in Buffalo this June.  For those who were unable to attend, there are brief video recordings already available.  (Based on previous CSICons’ talks eventually showing up online, there may be more to come later.)  For example, on Friday morning, Kenny Biddle strolled through the venue, including the auditorium where Stuart Vyse was presenting “Welcome to the Burned-Over District!”  Susan Gerbic’s snippet of Thursday morning’s “CFI History & Mystery Tour” features Kenny, and she also posted video of Sunday morning’s CSICon Singers with Anthony Trecek-King.

In lieu of more videos becoming available, NCAS presents the following descriptions and commentary from several of its members who attended CSICon 2026.  (Please note that the opinions expressed in this article are the authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect the view of the National Capital Area Skeptics organization.)

Skeptical Eye: Frontline Reports from CSICon 2026

Note: With this, we are reviving our Skeptical Eye as the vehicle for news and other non-event announcements.

--Scott Snell

Rorschach Theatre: American Apparitions

Rorschach Theatre is a spunky, local theater company whose works for 25 years have often featured themes that are spooky and fantastical. They have mounted stage productions ranging from Toxic Avenger: The Musical to a delightful twist on Beauty & the Beast. Naturally, I’m a fan.

During the COVID lockdown, they conceived a brilliant idea to stay alive: Psychogeographies. If you can’t go to the theater, well, let the theater take you on adventures around town. Each month, subscribers receive a package and a map that lets them go to a location -- at a time of their choosing -- where examining the rest of the package unfolds a bit of a multi-chapter story.  After a few months, a whole new world has been opened. It was such a success that they have continued with new stories and are now in the 6th season. Grace and I have been on board for them all.

Two seasons ago, the story involved cryptids and a possible abduction. They even wove the National Capital Area Skeptics into the storyline! Other seasons involved time travel and even warping between worlds in a multiverse.

We just completed the first chapter of this season called American Apparitions. It is all about ghost hunting around DC. Our initial package included an investigator’s handbook from the “Red Room Society,” complete with suggestions for free ghost hunting apps to download. The map took us to the MLK Jr Library, Chinatown, and even down an alley behind Ford’s Theatre where we tried to record ghostly images and voices. It was a hoot!

It struck us that other skeptics might enjoy this as much as we do. Although chapters 2 and 3 are about to be released, it’s actually easy to join in late since the whole thing is done on your own schedule. They even provide online videos for those who want to “remote view” rather than venture out in person.

Saturday afternoon, July 11, is a special live Ghost Party event. It’s billed as a fundraiser for the company, with drinks, a paranormal scavenger hunt, and dessert. It is a stand-alone event, but thematically tied to American Apparitions. Subscribers get a free ticket. Grace and I share one subscription and just bought a single guest ticket with a subscriber discount for the party.

We would love to meet up with NCAS members for the party or any of the monthly adventures. I hope you will join us.

--Chip Denman

https://rorschachtheatre.com/american-apparitions/

https://rorschachtheatre.com/ghost-party/