PVD1693269: Harry Houdini cannot escape the hold of boxer Benny Leonard and Jack Dempsey prepare to swing. Houdini claimed he could withstand any blow to his stomach. His death from a ruptured appendix followed the punches he accepted from a McGill University student, H. Gordon Whitehead, ca. 1920, Bain, George Grantham - Bain News Service (1865-1944) / Bridgeman Images