This tradition is no longer observed, although hundreds of inns and public houses throughout the country are still called The Royal Oak after the famous escape.

In 1755, Giacomo Casanova made a famous escape from the prison.

Despite the many references to Houdini and his famous escape from a locked trunk, the show is exceedingly slight of hand in the magic department.

'O' course, a famous escape is nearly as good as gettin' hanged,' said the warder, in the manner of someone trying to keep up someone else's spirits.

The reference is to Charles II's famous escape from Cromwell's Roundheads, and Charles was restored to the throne in 1660.

It wasn't just the water that made Houdini's Chinese water chamber his most famous escape.

During his famous escape from exile on the island of Elba, rough seas knocked Napoleon overboard.

Another showed El Diablo in his famous escape.

He was one of the 76 men who escaped the prison camp on the night of 24-25 March 1944, in the escape now famous as "The Great Escape".

Besides, the newspapers have discovered that he has been spending the winter in Turkey ever since his famous escape from the Sante.