Curiosity: The neglected trait that drives success via BBC [Shared]
On 7 January 1918 at New York’s Hippodrome, the incredible illusionist Harry Houdini unveiled one of his most famous tricks – the vanishing elephant – in front of thousands of spectators.
The beast in question, Jennie, reportedly weighed 10,000 pounds (4,536kg). She raised her trunk in greeting, before a stagehand led her into a huge cabinet and closed the doors behind them. After a dramatic drum roll, the doors reopened – and the cabinet was now empty. To the thousands of spectators, it seemed that she had vanished into thin air.
How could Houdini have managed to hide such an enormous animal? No one at the time could provide a definitive explanation of what had happened, though there is one predominant theory.
