Happy Birthday Houdini!

Google on Thursday posted a homepage doodle in honor of what would've been illusionist Harry Houdini's 137th birthday.  The image (below) features a drawing of Houdini with chains on his hands in front of a red banner with the Google logo.

Houdini was born Ehrich Weiss in Budapest, Hungary in 1874. His family re-located to Appleton, Wisconsin four years later, and by age nine, Houdini and childhood friends established a five-cent circus, with Houdini billing himself as "Ehrich, The Prince of the Air," according to PBS.

Houdini relocated to New York City in 1887, and adopted the Houdini name five years later after setting up "The Brothers Houdini" act with friend Jacob Hyman, PBS said. Houdini eventually ventured out on his own and got his big break in 1899 with a handcuff escape routine, making him a top vaudeville attraction.

Over the years, Houdini was involved in several high-profile illusions, from the "Mirror Cuff" escape at the London Hippodrome in 1904 and escaping a Washington, D.C. jail in 1906 to emerging from an underwater box in New York's East River in 1912. In 1925, he hit Broadway with a 2.5-hour show called "HOUDINI."

Houdini died on Halloween in Detroit, 1926 from complications of appendicitis.

The doodle comes the same week that Houdini's last surviving assistant died at the age of 103. Dorothy Young joined Houdini's tour at age 17; her most famous role was that of Radio Girl, where she emerged from a large radio onstage, according to the Daily Mail.