The history of magic tricks
Magic is one of the oldest performing arts. Its history is also full of publicity that turned into legend, so where a date or a “first” is disputed, we say so.
c. 1600 BC
A magician in an Egyptian papyrus
The Westcar Papyrus tells of Dedi, a wonder-worker who performs for King Khufu. It is a story rather than a record, and the oldest surviving tale of magic as a performance. More →
Ancient world
Cups and balls
Writers in the Roman world describe performers moving pebbles under cups, which is why the cups and balls is often called the oldest trick still performed. More →
1584
The first book to explain conjuring
Reginald Scot's The Discoverie of Witchcraft argued that people accused of witchcraft were innocent, and showed that conjurors' wonders were tricks. It is the first major English text on how magic tricks were done.
1634
Hocus Pocus Junior
An early English book of conjuring for performers, whose title preserved one of magic's oldest phrases. More →
19th century
The Bullet Catch
A stage illusion in which a marked bullet is fired at the magician, who appears to catch it, often in the teeth. It has a long and deadly reputation; Chung Ling Soo was killed performing it in London in 1918. More →
1845
Robert-Houdin opens his theatre
Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin begins his Soirées Fantastiques in Paris, in evening dress and an elegant salon. Modern stage magic is usually dated from here. More →
1856
Robert-Houdin performs in Algeria
The French government sends Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin to Algeria to perform before local leaders, hoping to undercut the influence of wonder-working holy men. Most of what we know comes from his own memoir. More →
1862
Pepper's ghost
A ghost appears on stage at the Royal Polytechnic Institution in London, demonstrated by John Henry Pepper. Versions of the technique are still used in theme parks and concerts.
1873
England's home of mystery
John Nevil Maskelyne and George Cooke begin their long run of magic shows at the Egyptian Hall in London. More →
1876
Modern Magic
Professor Hoffmann (Angelo Lewis) publishes Modern Magic, the book that taught conjuring to the English-speaking world for decades.
1890
The Indian rope trick hoax
On 8 August the Chicago Tribune publishes an invented eyewitness account of the Indian rope trick. The paper admits the hoax months later, but the legend has already spread around the world. More →
1890
The Indian Rope Trick
The legendary feat in which a rope thrown into the air stays upright and a boy climbs it and vanishes. Its fame in the West grew from an 1890 Chicago Tribune story that the paper later admitted was a hoax. More →
1900
The King of Koins writes it down
T. Nelson Downs publishes Modern Coin Manipulation, the first major book on coin magic. More →
1902
The Expert at the Card Table
A book on card cheating and card magic by S. W. Erdnase appears. Nobody has ever proved who Erdnase was, and the book is still studied by card magicians.
1902
The Society of American Magicians
Founded in New York. Harry Houdini later served as its president. More →
1905
The Magic Circle
Founded in London, with David Devant as its first president. More →
1908
Kellar passes the mantle
Harry Kellar retires and hands his show and title to Howard Thurston, on stage, in a ceremony that has become magic legend. More →
1912
The Water Torture Cell
On 21 September Harry Houdini first presents the Water Torture Cell in public, at Circus Busch in Berlin: he is locked upside down in a glass-fronted tank of water and emerges. More →
1918
Death of Chung Ling Soo
William Ellsworth Robinson, performing as Chung Ling Soo, is fatally wounded when the bullet catch goes wrong on stage in London. More →
1918
Houdini vanishes an elephant
On 7 January, at the New York Hippodrome, Harry Houdini makes an elephant named Jennie disappear from a large cabinet, part of a revue that runs for months. More →
1921
Sawing a woman in half
P. T. Selbit presents sawing through a woman in London in January; Horace Goldin presents an American version later that year. Who was first is still argued about. More →
1921
Sawing a Woman in Half
The stage illusion in which a woman in a box is apparently sawn through and then restored. P. T. Selbit presented it in London in January 1921 and Horace Goldin presented his own version in America later that year. More →
1922
The International Brotherhood of Magicians
Founded in North America. With the Society of American Magicians it remains one of the two largest magic societies.
1926
Houdini dies
Harry Houdini dies on 31 October, Halloween. Séances to contact him were held for years afterwards; he never came. More →
1936
Genii magazine
William Larsen Sr publishes the first issue of Genii, The Conjurors' Magazine, in Los Angeles in September. It becomes one of the longest-running magic magazines.
1942
Out of This World
Paul Curry, an amateur, releases the card trick many magicians still call the greatest ever devised. More →
1940s
Vernon's Triumph
Dai Vernon's Triumph is published in the Stars of Magic series and gives a whole card plot its name. More →
1952
Modern Coin Magic
J. B. Bobo's book becomes the standard reference for coin magicians and stays in print for generations. More →
1963
The Magic Castle opens
On 2 January brothers Bill and Milt Larsen open the Magic Castle in a Hollywood mansion as the clubhouse of the Academy of Magical Arts. It becomes one of the best-known homes of magic in the world. More →
1974
The Magic Show on Broadway
Doug Henning's musical opens and runs for years, bringing big illusion back into fashion. More →
1983
The Statue of Liberty vanishes
David Copperfield makes the Statue of Liberty appear to disappear on live television. More →
1997
Street magic on television
David Blaine's special Street Magic films close-up magic performed for strangers, and the reactions become the show. More →
2003
Siegfried & Roy's show ends
Roy Horn is badly injured by a tiger on stage in Las Vegas, ending one of the longest-running shows in the city's history. More →