Reading a biography of Houdini a few years ago, I realized how much of his magic was based on what we would today call "hacking." For example: he studied the va

Reading a biography of Houdini a few years ago, I realized how much of his magic was based on what we would today call "hacking." For example: he studied the various handcuff and lockmakers' pruducts, and would then determine ahead of time which models were used by a particular police department. He then would know exactly what kind master keys to hide on (or in) his body in order to escape from any jail cell.