1. At the B.F. Theater downtown, he ate needles. That was in December 1916. He placed needles in his mouth one by one and swallowed them until 20 to 30 were ingested. Then he chased the needles with a length of thread. With a sharp cough he tugged the thread from his lips and slowly pulled the needles out "properly threaded."
2. Then, he escaped a straight jacket hanging over downtown. That was also in December 1916. He hung upside down from the Dayton Daily News building at Fourth and Ludlow streets, and he got out of the Dayton police straight jacket.
3. He got in arguments about mediums in the newspaper. That was during a 1925 swing through town. Houdini was challenging mediums and psychics all over the country. Numerous letters were printed asking Houdini questions on the topic. He wrote in one letter back: "I have never met a medium who could convince me that they had the power of communicating with the dead."
» READ MORE: Needles, tricks and escapes: Houdini’s history in Dayton
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