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Psycho Automaton
Psycho was an automaton created by John Nevil Maskelyne with the assistance of John Algernon Clarke and first shown to audiences at The Egyptian Hall, London, in January 1875. Psycho, fashioned to look like a miniature Indian man, sat cross-legged on a wooden chest. The chest sat on a clear glass cylinder. Under his hand was a rack for thirteen playing cards. The wooden chest he sat on, would be opened and shown that it was much too small to conceal a person. Psycho would play a game of Whist by moving his hand along the rack of cards in front of him, lifting a card and handing it to Maskelyne. It was much debated in the press about whether it was a pure mechanical invention or not. Psycho gave his last performance in 1910 and it was then donated to the London Museum by the Maskelyne family in 1934. In 1878, Harry Kellar visited England and had a copy Maskelyne's whist-playing automaton made by Alfred La Mare. Other unauthorized copies of Psycho were made for the likes of Dr Cram ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Nevil Maskelyne
John Nevil Maskelyne (22 December 183918 May 1917) was an English stage magician and inventor of the pay toilet, along with other Victorian-era devices. He worked with magicians George Alfred Cooke and David Devant, and many of his illusions are still performed today. His book ''Sharps and Flats: A Complete Revelation of the Secrets of Cheating at Games of Chance and Skill'' is considered a classic overview of card sharp practices.In 1914 he founded the Occult Committee, a group to "investigate claims to supernatural power and to expose fraud". Early life Maskelyne was born on 22 December 1839 at Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England to John Nevil Maskelyne (1800–1875), a saddler, and his wife Harriet née Brunsdon (1812–1871). He trained as a watchmaker. Career Maskelyne became interested in conjuring after watching a stage performance at his local Town Hall by the fraudulent American spiritualists the Davenport brothers. He saw how the Davenports' spirit cabinet illusio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Museum Of London
The Museum of London is a museum in London, covering the history of the UK's capital city from prehistoric to modern times. It was formed in 1976 by amalgamating collections previously held by the City Corporation at the Guildhall, London, Guildhall Museum (founded in 1826) and of the London Museum (1912–1976), London Museum (founded in 1912). From 1976 to 4 December 2022 its main site was located in the City of London on the London Wall, close to the Barbican Centre, as part of the Barbican complex of buildings created in the 1960s and 1970s to redevelop a bomb-damaged area of the city. The museum has the largest urban history collection in the world, with more than six million objects. That site was a few minutes' walk north of St Paul's Cathedral, overlooking the remains of the Roman city wall and on the edge of the oldest part of London, now its main financial district. It is primarily concerned with the social history of London and its inhabitants throughout time. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whist
Whist is a classic English trick-taking card game which was widely played in the 18th and 19th centuries. Although the rules are simple, there is scope for strategic play. History Whist is a descendant of the 16th-century game of ''trump'' or ''ruff''. Whist replaced the popular variant of ''trump'' known as ruff and honours. The game takes its name from the 17th-century ''whist'' (or ''wist'') meaning ''quiet'', ''silent'', ''attentive'', which is the root of the modern ''wistful''. According to Daines Barrington, whist was first played on scientific principles by a party of gentlemen who frequented the Crown Coffee House in Bedford Row, London, around 1728. Edmond Hoyle, suspected to be a member of this group, began to tutor wealthy young gentlemen in the game and published ''A Short Treatise on the Game of Whist'' in 1742. It became the standard text and rules for the game for the next hundred years. In 1862, Henry Jones, writing under the pseudonym "Cavendish", publis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Houdini
Harry Houdini (, born Erik Weisz; March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-American escape artist, magic man, and stunt performer, noted for his escape acts. His pseudonym is a reference to his spiritual master, French magician Robert-Houdin (1805–1871). He first attracted notice in vaudeville in the United States and then as "Harry 'Handcuff' Houdini" on a tour of Europe, where he challenged police forces to keep him locked up. Soon he extended his repertoire to include chains, ropes slung from skyscrapers, straitjackets under water, and having to escape from and hold his breath inside a sealed milk can with water in it. In 1904, thousands watched as he tried to escape from special handcuffs commissioned by London's ''Daily Mirror'', keeping them in suspense for an hour. Another stunt saw him buried alive and only just able to claw himself to the surface, emerging in a state of near-breakdown. While many suspected that these escapes were faked, Houdini prese ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Gaughan
John Gaughan (born 1940) is an American manufacturer of magic acts and equipment for magicians based in Los Angeles, California. His style of work is classic, not based heavily on machinery and technology. Great illusionists have noted his work, such as David Blaine, who has several times called him "a magical genius". He has built for people such as Alan Wakeling, Mark Wilson, Criss Angel, David Copperfield, David Blaine, Simon Drake, Doug Henning and The Doors, and is responsible for the construction of dozens of major acts. He also has constructed a replica of the 18th century chess-playing machine, The Turk, which often tours chess conferences. Gaughan created David Copperfield's flying illusion, which is notable for its graceful motion and unencumbered appearance. Gaughan held a patent on a method for creating the illusion of flight. Gaughan also created a "one-of-a-kind" prop for Mark Wilson Productions for a National Fire Prevention Week Event. Using a standard golf car ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scott Penrose
Scott Penrose (born 1969 in Essex) is an English magician and magic consultant and is the son of magician John Penrose. Penrose is a former President of The Magic Circle having been proposed for the post by Paul Daniels. He is Honorary Vice President of The British Magic Society, the UK's oldest Magic Club. He was awarded the title The Magic Circle Stage Magician of the Year in 2000. He mainly works as a magic consultant and illusion designer. He taught Woody Allen magic for his movie ''Scoop'' and advised on the Houdini movie ''Death Defying Acts'' (starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Guy Pearce). He also built illusions for and appeared in the movie ''Magicians'' and tutored Sir Michael Caine and the young Bill Milner for the movie ''Is Anybody There?''. Other credits include designing, creating and building magic and illusions for UK TV shows such as '' QI'', ''Jonathan Creek'' and '' Hustle''. In the 2015 Christmas Special of ''QI'', Penrose surprised Stephen Fry with members ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1875 Works
Events January–March * January 1 – The Midland Railway of England abolishes the Second Class passenger category, leaving First Class and Third Class. Other British railway companies follow Midland's lead during the rest of the year (Third Class is renamed Second Class in 1956). * January 5 – The Palais Garnier, one of the most famous opera houses in the world, is inaugurated in Paris. * January 12 – Guangxu becomes the 11th Qing Dynasty Emperor of China at the age of 3, in succession to his cousin. * January 14 – The newly proclaimed King Alfonso XII of Spain (Queen Isabella II's son) arrives in Spain to restore the monarchy during the Third Carlist War. * February 3 – Third Carlist War – Battle of Lácar: Carlist commander Torcuato Mendíri secures a brilliant victory, when he surprises and routs a Government force under General Enrique Bargés at Lácar, east of Estella, nearly capturing newly crowned King Alfonso XII. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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