Harry Houdini died on October 31, 1926, at the age of 52 from peritonitis caused by a ruptured appendix. About a week before his death, Houdini was punched multiple times in the stomach by a university student named J. Gordon Whitehead, who wanted to test whether Houdini could withstand blows to the abdomen as he claimed. However, medical experts later concluded that the punch did not cause the appendicitis, which was likely already present. Houdini continued to perform despite being ill, eventually collapsing after his last show and being hospitalized in Detroit, where he underwent surgery to remove the ruptured appendix. Unfortunately, the infection from the burst appendix led to sepsis, and Houdini died after a second operation and attempts to fight the infection failed. His death has often been surrounded by speculation, partly because it occurred on Halloween, but the official cause remains the ruptured appendix and resultant peritonitis.