Harry Houdini stayed in a coffin underwater for an hour and thirty minutes before escaping on this day in 1926.

Did you know that:

• The spectrum of a comet was observed for the first time by Giovanni Donati on this day in 1864
• The cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty was laid on Bedloe’s Island on this day in 1884
• Kajol Devgn, known mononymously as Kajol, is an Indian film actress born on this day in 1974

// Compiled by Zoya Siddiqui