Harry Houdini made his name at the beginning of the 20th century, he was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1874.The family was poor, so two years after Ehrich was born, his father decided to go to America. Ehrich's father went straight to Appleton, Wisconsin. The pop stars of the day were the performers who could bring crowds to the theaters. This was what Houdini dreamed of when he was a boy named Ehrich Weiss. He wanted to see his name in big letters outside a theater, his picture beside big headlines in the newspaper. The high point of each year was when the circus came to town. In the 19th century, these traveling circuses brought entertainment to small towns all around America. He loved pretending he was a circus performer. He practiced and practiced until he got very good. Success did not come to him easily. In the end, he became richer and more famous than he could ever have imagined. He became The Great Houdini, known around the world.