'The UnXplained: The Greatest Escapes' Preview: Get front row seats to history's greatest tales of escape
After taking a short break History channel's 'The UnXplained' is back on our screens. Episode 16 aired way back on April 25. Kicking off the new set of episodes, Episode 17 is titled 'The Greatest Escapes', hosted by the one and only William Shatner.
The official description of the episode reveals that it will investigate some of history’s greatest tales of escape, "the most incredible of which defy explanation". Not surprisingly, Harry Houdini's daring feats will be featured. The master escape artist invented the genre of magic that the current crop of Criss Angels and David Blaines have popularized.
Houdini was a Hungarian-born American illusionist and stunt performer who shot to fame in 1900 after he gave a demonstration of escape from handcuffs at Scotland Yard, baffling the police. The publicity was so effective that he booked for shows for the next six months on a salary of $300 a week. His other famous stunts include escaping from straitjackets underwater and being buried alive. Houdini insisted that his escapes were real and did not involve any sleight of hand magic. To prove he was the genuine "Handcuff King", he would challenge the police of different countries to handcuff him and also escaped from special handcuffs that took five years for a locksmith to design -- a challenge issued by London's 'Daily Mirror' newspaper.
The other tale of escape that will be featured in the episode is the true story behind the popular Clint Eastwood film 'Escape from Alcatraz'. The June 1962 prison break occurred in Alcatraz's Federal Penitentiary, a maximum-security facility located on an island in San Francisco Bay. It was undertaken by inmates Frank Morris and brothers John and Clarence Anglin. The three men were able to escape from their cells and leave the island in a makeshift raft. But whether they survived on open waters still remains a mystery.
The last story of escape can be a trigger for some as it revolves around the mysterious help one man received that allowed him to escape the South Tower of the World Trade Center on 9/11. This segment will likely feature the story of Stanley Praimnath and his savior, Brian Clark. According to Praimnath's account, when he saw the hijacked Flight 175, headed straight toward him, dove under his metal desk, yelling, “Lord, I can’t do this! You take over!” The nose of the plane smashed through the tower, just 130 feet from his desk, and yet he only had minor injuries.
The second miracle was when Brian Clark heard his cries while he and his co-workers were arguing in the stairwell over whether to head down or up to the roof for helicopter rescues. Clark's decision to rescue Praimnath and head down, which was easier with an injured man, saved both their lives.
Clark's other co-workers who headed to the roof perished because it was deemed too risky to fly helicopters amid the smoke of the carnage for rescues. Praimnath and Clark were among the eighteen rare survivors at the impact zone in the South Tower to survive the day.
'The UnXplained: The Greatest Escapes' premieres on July 11 on History Channel.