Houdini died in Detroit, Michigan, on October 31, 1926. Two weeks before his death, a college student approached Houdini and asked him if he could withstand a punch in the stomach, a challenge which Houdini often took, and the former punched him several times. Houdini became sick afterwards, but continued to perform. Houdini's official cause of death was peritonitis (inflammation in the abdomen). Some speculate that it was caused by a ruptured appendix from that incident. 