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Weekend


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November 19, 2004

Strange But True!

  • A weekly column of incidental information, off-the-wall observations and other random facts about the world.
    • By BILL SONES and RICH SONES, Ph.D.
    Special to the Journal

    Q. How did "Master Mystifier" Harry Houdini manage to stay in an airtight coffin for an hour and a half?

    A. Very scientifically! Earlier in 1926, 26-year-old Rahman Bey had stayed encoffined in a swimming pool for 60 minutes, says Massimo Polidoro in "Secrets of the Psychics: Investigating Paranormal Claims." What galled Houdini was Bey's claim of doing this while in a "cataleptic trance."


     
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