IN: Erik Weisz was born in Budapest to a Jewish family. His parents were Rabbi Mayer Samuel Weisz (1829-1892) and Cecilia Steiner (1841-1913). Houdini was one of seven children: Herman M. (1863-1885) who was Houdini's half-brother, by Rabbi Weisz's first marriage; Nathan J. (1870-1927); Gottfried William (1872-1925); Theodore (1876-1945); Leopold D. (1879-1962); and Carrie Gladys (1882-1959), who was left almost blind after a childhood accident. Weisz arrived in the United States on July 3, 1878, on the SS Fresia with his mother (who was pregnant) and his four brothers.

In 1904, the London Daily Mirror newspaper challenged Houdini to escape from special handcuffs that it claimed had taken Nathaniel Hart, a locksmith from Birmingham, five years to make. Houdini accepted the challenge for March 17 during a matinee performance at London's Hippodrome theater. It was reported that 4000 people and more than 100 journalists turned out for the much-hyped event. The escape attempt dragged on for over an hour, during which Houdini emerged from his "ghost house" (a small screen used to conceal the method of his escape) several times. On one occasion he asked if the cuffs could be removed so he could take off his coat. The Mirror representative, Frank Parker, refused, saying Houdini could gain an advantage if he saw how the cuffs were unlocked. Houdini promptly took out a pen-knife and, holding the knife in his teeth, used it to cut his coat from his body. Some 56 minutes later, Houdini's wife appeared on stage and gave him a kiss. Many thought that in her mouth was the key to unlock the special handcuffs. However, it has since been suggested that Bess did not in fact enter the stage at all, and that this theory is unlikely due to the size of the 6-inch key Houdini then went back behind the curtain. After an hour and ten minutes, Houdini emerged free. As he was paraded on the shoulders of the cheering crowd, he broke down and wept. Houdini later said it was the most difficult escape of his career. After Houdini's death, his friend Martin Beck was quoted in Will Goldston's book, Sensational Tales of Mystery Men, as admitting that Houdini was bested that day and had appealed to his wife, Bess, for help. Goldston goes on to claim that Bess begged the key from the Mirror representative, then slipped it to Houdini in a glass of water. It was stated in the book The Secret Life of Houdini that the key required to open the specially designed Mirror handcuffs was 6 inches long, and could not have been smuggled to Houdini in a glass of water. Goldston offered no proof of his account, and many modern biographers have found evidence (notably in the custom design of the handcuffs) that the Mirror challenge may have been arranged by Houdini and that his long struggle to escape was pure showmanship. This escape was discussed in depth on the Travel Channel's Mysteries at the Museum in an interview with Houdini expert, magician and escape artist Dorothy Dietrich of Scranton's Houdini Museum. A full-sized design of the same Mirror Handcuffs, as well as a replica of the Bramah style key for it, is on display to the public at The Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania. This set of cuffs is believed to be one of only six in the world, some of which are not on display.
QUESTION: what was teh mirror challange?
IN: Gregory James "Greg" LeMond (born June 26, 1961) is an American former professional road racing cyclist who won the Road Race World Championship twice (1983 and 1989) and the Tour de France three times (1986, 1989 and 1990). He is also an entrepreneur and anti-doping advocate. LeMond was born in Lakewood, California, and raised in ranch country on the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, near Reno. He is married and has three children with his wife Kathy, with whom he supports a variety of charitable causes and organizations.

Greg LeMond was born in Lakewood, California, and raised in the Washoe Valley, ranch country on the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain range between Reno and Carson City, Nevada. His parents are Bob LeMond and Bertha (d. 2006), and he has two sisters, Kathy and Karen. LeMond attended Earl Wooster High School, but lived too far away to participate in team sports. LeMond's introduction to cycling came in 1975 thanks to freestyle skiing pioneer Wayne Wong, who recommended the bike as an ideal off-season training aid. LeMond started competing in 1976, and after dominating the Intermediate category (13-15) and winning the first 11 races he entered, he received permission to ride against older, more seasoned competitors in the Junior (16-19) category. In 1977, while still only 15, LeMond finished second in the Tour of Fresno to John Howard, then the United States's top road cyclist and the 1971 Pan American Games champion. LeMond caught the attention of Eddie Borysewicz, the US Cycling Federation's national team coach, who described LeMond as "a diamond, a clear diamond." LeMond represented the United States at the 1978 Junior World Championships in Washington, D.C., where he finished ninth in the road race, and again in the 1979 Junior World Championships in Argentina, where he won gold, silver and bronze medals--the highlight being his victory in the road race. At age 18, LeMond was selected for the 1980 U.S. Olympic cycling team, the youngest ever to make the U.S. team. However, the U.S. boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow prevented him from competing there. Borysewicz, whom LeMond described as his "first real coach," wanted to retain his protege through the next Olympic cycle and discouraged him from turning pro, but LeMond was determined. Nevertheless, while he was the reigning Junior World Road Champion in 1980, LeMond received no professional offers, and so in the spring 1980, he joined the U.S. National cycling team for a 6-week European racing campaign. There, he finished third overall in the Circuit des Ardennes before winning the 1980 Circuit de la Sarthe stage race in France, thereby becoming the first American and youngest rider of any nationality "in the history of the sport to win a major pro-am cycling event [in Europe]." That victory, and the subsequent press coverage, raised LeMond's profile in Europe and he was scouted at his next event (the Ruban Granitier Breton stage race) by Cyrille Guimard, the Renault-Elf-Gitane team's directeur sportif. Guimard said he was impressed with LeMond's spirit, and told him, "You have the fire to be a great champion," before offering him a professional contract for 1981 with Renault. After he returned to the United States, LeMond won the 1980 Nevada City Classic, considered to be one of the most historic and challenging professional cycling races in United States. Despite eventually receiving several other offers to turn professional besides Guimard's, LeMond did not consider them seriously, and he signed with Renault in Paris on the day the 1980 Tour de France finished.
QUESTION:
When did he begin cycling?