John Henry Anderson (1814 – 1874) was a professional magician, born in Kincardine, Scottland. Anderson is credited with helping bring the art of magic from street performances into theatres and presenting magic performances for the purpose to entertain and delight the audience. 1814 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1874 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... A flourish with a deck of playing cards. ... Kincardineshire, also known as The Mearns (from A Mhaoirne meaning The Stewartry) is a traditional county on the coast of Northeast Scotland. ... Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Alba) is a country or nation and former independent kingdom of northwest Europe, and one of the four constituent parts of the United Kingdom. ... For other usages see Theatre (disambiguation) Theater (American English) or Theatre (British English and widespread usage among theatre professionals in the US) is that branch of the performing arts concerned with acting out stories in front of an audience using combinations of speech, gesture, music, dance, sound and spectacle — indeed...

Orphaned at the age of ten, Anderson started his career working in a theatre and began an unsuccessful attempt at acting. At seventeen, he began performing magic and in 1837, at the age of twenty-three, performed at the castle of Lord Panmure whose endorsement of Anderson inspired him to put a touring show together which lasted for three years. In 1840 Anderson settled in London, opening the New Strand Theatre. Sir Walter Scott is said to have given him the stage name, The Wonderful Wizard of the North. An orphan (from the Greek ορφανός) is a being, typically a human or non-human animal child, whose parents have both died. ... 1837 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1840 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... St Stevens Tower - The Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster which contains Big Ben London (see also different names) is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. ... For the first Premier of Saskatchewan see Thomas Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott (August 14, 1771 - September 21, 1832) was a prolific Scottish historical novelist and poet popular throughout Europe. ...

Anderson's success came from his extensive use of advertising and popular shows which captivated his audience. The Wizard was committed to to philanthropy and expert showmanship, making him one of the earliest magicians to attain a high level of world renown. Anderson declared: "It is the duty of all magicians to give entertainment," and he was not content to perform an illusion to simply demonstrate that he could accomplish something that the audience could not explain. If the effect was not enthusiastically received, Anderson would remove it from his act. Anderson is famous for a lifetime of successful performances of the bullet catch illusion. Although he did not invent the trick, he made it widely popular and several of his rivals copied Anderson's version in their own shows. Philanthropy involves the donation or granting of money to various worthy charitable causes. ... Showmanship is a dog competition. ... An illusion is a distortion of a sensory perception. ... The bullet catch is a conjuring illusion in which a magician supposedly catches a bullet fired directly at him, often in the mouth but also occasionally in the hand. ...

In 1842, Anderson married Hannah Longherst from Aberdeen, an assistant with his show. The following year their son, John Henry Jr. was born. In 1845, Anderson's mistress Miss Prentice gave birth to Philip Prentice Anderson, but died in childbirth. Anderson, however, supported the child for its entire life. Anderson would also have two daughters who assisted in their father's show and later became successful magicians, and a second illegitimate son through a member of his touring troupe. 1842 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Aberdeens location in Scotland Aberdeen (Obar Dheathain in Scottish Gaelic) is Scotlands third largest city, with a population of 212,125. ... 1845 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Newborn with suctioning and umbilical cord Childbirth (also called labour, birth, or parturition) is the culmination of pregnancy, the emergence of a child from its mothers uterus. ... Illegitimacy was a term in common usage for the condition of being born of parents who are not validly married to one another; the legal term is bastardy. ...

1845 also saw the completion of Anderson's second theatre, the City Theatre in Glasgow. In November, only four months after opening, the theatre burned and Anderson's financial losses were considerable. Through the aid of his showbusiness friends, Anderson was able to launch a new show at London's Covent Garden Theatre in 1846 and then toured Europe the following year, traveling to Hamburg, Stockholm, and lastly St. Petersburg where he met Czar Nicholas who arranged a command performance for Anderson after an awkward chance meeting. Glasgows location in Scotland Glasgow (or Glaschu in Gaelic) is Scotlands largest city, on the River Clyde in west central Scotland. ... November is the eleventh month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of four Gregorian months with the length of 30 days. ... Covent Garden is a shopping and entertainment complex in central London. ... 1846 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. ... Position of Hamburg in Germany Hamburgs central broadway Jungfernstieg at the Alster lake, between 1900 and 1914 This article is about the city in Germany. ... Stockholm  listen? is the capital and the largest city of Sweden. ... Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг, English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as Питер (transliterated Piter), formerly known as Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991) and Petrograd (Петрогра́д, 1914–1924), is a city located in Northwestern Russia on the delta of the river Neva at the east end of the Gulf of Finland... The name Nicholas is derived from the late Greek Nikolaos, a combination of the words for victory (Nike) and people (laos). ...

In 1849, Anderson returned to London to perform for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The following year, Anderson toured America, Canada, Australia, and Hawaii. Upon returning to Britain, Anderson found that he had a rival in fellow magician Robert Houdin so he returned to America in 1853 and performed in Boston. An illusion involving Anderson's dispensing of various alcoholic beverages to the audience caused a legal controversy regarding temperance in that city. 1849 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Victoria Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria) (24 May 1819–22 January 1901) was a Queen of the United Kingdom, reigning from 20 June 1837 until her death. ... HRH The Prince Consort His Royal Highness Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Consort, (Franz Karl August Albert Emmanuel, of the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha branch of the House of Wettin) (26 August 1819 – 14 December 1861) was the husband and consort of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom... Wikiquote has a collection of quotations by or about: United States Wikinews has a related story: United States United States government CIA World Factbook Entry for United States House. ... State nickname: The Aloha State Other U.S. States Capital Honolulu Largest city Honolulu Governor Linda Lingle Official languages Hawaiian and English Area 28,337 km² (43rd)  - Land 16,649 km²  - Water 11,672 km² (41. ... Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin, (December 6, 1805 - 1871) was a French magician, born in Blois, France, where he also died. ... 1853 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Alternative meanings: Boston (disambiguation) The 18th-century Old State House in Boston is surrounded by tall buildings of the 19th and 20th centuries. ... In general usage, alcohol (from Arabic al-khwl الكحول, or al-ghawl الغول) refers almost always to ethanol, also known as grain alcohol, and often to any beverage that contains ethanol (see alcoholic beverage). ... The Temperance Movement (see definition of temperance) was a movement in support of total abstinence from alcohol during the 19th and early 20th centuries. ...

In 1854, John Henry held a farewell performance in Aberdeen. The success of this show was enough to inspire Anderson not to retire. Rather, he began to concentrate his efforts to exposing spiritualism fraud. In his shows, he used his daughters to duplicate spiritualist effects. Anderson was one of the magicians of his day who exposed the frauds of the Davenport Brothers. The show played at the Lyceum in London and then moved to Covent Garden in 1855. The following year, after a gala performance, the theatre caught fire destroying all of Anderson's properties, bankrupting him for the second time in his professional career. 1854 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Spiritualism is a religion - primarily of Europe and the USA - with a broadly Christian stance and a central focus on mediumship to demonstrate the continued existence of the soul. ... A lyceum is most often used today to denote either an educational institution (most often a school of secondary education in parts of Europe) or a public hall used for cultural events like concerts. ... 1855 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... In the performing arts, a prop (the common short form for the more formal property) is anything that is carried by a performer during the performance. ... Bankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of an individual or organization to pay their creditors. ...

In 1859, after a brief period as an actor, Anderson began another world tour. In 1862, at the age of eighteen, John Henry Jr. left his father's troupe and began his own independent career as a conjuror. This started a bitter feud between father and son and the two never spoke again. Greatly in debt, Anderson returned to England in 1864. He would tour once more in 1866. 1859 is a common year starting on Saturday. ... 1862 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area  - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 1st UK 49,138,831 377/km² Ethnicity... 1864 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1866 is a common year starting on Monday. ...

Anderson died in 1874. He was buried next to his mother in Aberdeen. Magician Harry Houdini, who was born in the same year as Anderson's death, revered Anderson one of his inspirations and in 1909 arranged for the upkeep of the gravesite which had fallen into disrepair. Harry Houdini (March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was the stage name of Ehrich Weiss (born Weisz Erik in the native Hungarian), one of the most famous magicians, escapologists, and stunt performers of all time. ... 1909 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...

References

• Hay, Harry. Cyclopedia of Magic. (1949) ISBN 0486218082
• Randi, James. Conjuring. (1992) ISBN 0312097719