“The Wizard of Oz is more believable. And much more fun.”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #quote
Figure timeline
James Randi
James Randi was a Canadian-American stage magician, author, and scientific skeptic who extensively challenged paranormal and pseudoscientific claims. He was the co-founder of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), and founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF). Randi began his career as a magician under the stage name The Amazing Randi and later chose to devote most of his time t…
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
culture · Canadian-American magician and skeptic (1928–2020) · philosopher · magician · writer · illusionist · also James Randi, Randall James Hamilton Zwinge, The Amazing Randi, Randi
Born 7 August 1928 · Died 20 October 2020 · Q294918
59 published statements · 0 followers
See & hear
Photos & media
11 photos · 2 audio · 1 video
Video
James Randi Submerged Coffin
Listen
Audio James Randi
Audio James Randi Long Version
Media from Wikimedia Commons, hotlinked at the source under its own licence — see each file for author and terms.
Live now
In the news
Pulling headlines from trusted outlets — this usually takes a few seconds
Checking the wires…
Feed scan
These are live links, not archived citations — they only join the timeline once a collect run verifies and archives them.
Live pulse
Recent highlights
Most recent outstanding titles, awards, and quotes
- Quote
- Quote
2026· 7 entries
“Yes, thank their goodness but don”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #quote
“tricked even reputable scientists”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #quote
“had been a magician himself and was skeptical”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #quote
“very substantial influence on the printed media ... in those days.”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #quote
“Jesus Christ was a religious nut,”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #quote
“s connotations and preferred to describe himself as an”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #quote
2022· 1 entry
Randi made a cameo appearance in the posthumously released online magic special Piff the Magic Dragon: Reptile Dysfunction
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2020· 7 entries
Chicago Tribune: Column: In memory of the amazing James Randi, ignore the charlatans and listen to science
- #news
- #headline
People: Famed Magician and Skeptic James Randi Dies at 92: 'A Crusader Against Fakes, Flimflam and Frauds'
- #news
- #headline
Chicago Tribune: James Randi, dazzling magician and skeptic, dies at 92
- #news
- #headline
Digital Journal: Magician and debunker of the paranormal James Randi dies
- #news
- #headline
UPI: James Randi, magician and debunker, dies at 92
- #news
- #headline
Rolling Stone: James Randi, Famed Magician and Paranormal Skeptic, Dead at 92
- #news
- #headline
Died 2020-10-20.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #death
2017· 3 entries
In absence of Randi, the IIG organized another group photo with leftover beards from the 2011 photo
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Randi appeared in animated form on the website Holy Koolaid, in which he discussed the challenge of finding the balance between connecting sincerely with his audience and at the same time tricking/fooling them with an ar
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Randi was asked by George Hrab what a "'skeptic coming of age ceremony' would look like" and Randi talked about what it was like as a child to learn about the speed of light and how that felt like he was looking into the
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2016· 3 entries
Awarded Heinz Oberhummer Award for Science Communication (2016).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
“I think that a belief in a deity is ... an unprovable claim ... and a rather ridiculous claim. It is an easy way out to explain things to which we have no answer.”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #quote
Randi stated "I think that a belief in a deity is
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2015· 2 entries
Coinciding with Randi's retirement from the JREF
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
After Randi's retirement, his foundation said the Million Dollar Challenge would no longer consider applicants unless they meet a set of minimum protocols, to reduce the amount of frivolous claims
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2014· 2 entries
Part2Filmworks released An Honest Liar, a feature film documentary, written by Tyler Measom and Greg O'Toole, and directed and produced by Measom and Justin Weinstein
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
“s tricks. Randi told the story in a 2014 documentary about his life titled, An Honest Liar . What followed was a painfully awkward segment (obviously, stoked a bit by Carson), that ended with Geller giving up, saying he simply didn”
- #wikipedia
- #quote
- #trusted-source
- #www.npr.org
- #corroborated
2013· 1 entry
McCormick was convicted of three counts of fraud at the Old Bailey in London; he was subsequently sentenced to ten years' imprisonment for his part in the ADE 651 scandal, which Randi was the first to expose
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2011· 4 entries
Hoping to be saved from illness and poverty
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
“More kids need to be stunned”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #quote
Was working on A Magician in the Laboratory, which recounted his application of skepticism to science
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
(TAM 9) the Independent Investigations Group (IIG) organized a tribute to Randi
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2010· 1 entry
Randi was one of 16 new CSI fellows elected by its board
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2007· 4 entries
It was ruled that only persons with an established, nationally recognized media profile and the backing of a reputable academic were allowed to apply for the challenge, in order to avoid wasting JREF resources on frivolo
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Altea and Randi again appeared on the show, and Altea again refused to answer whether or not she would take the One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Randi delivered a TED talk in which he discussed psychic fraud, homeopathy, and his foundation's Million Dollar Challenge
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
In Las Vegas, Nevada, his annual convention of scientists, magicians, skeptics, atheists, and freethinkers
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2006· 1 entry
Changed its name to the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI)
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2005· 1 entry
From viewers sending in money for promised healing and prosperity
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2003· 2 entries
Awarded Richard Dawkins Award (2003).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2001· 1 entry
Randi challenged Rosemary Altea, another claimed medium, to undergo testing for the million dollars, but Altea refused to address the question
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1998· 1 entry
When Earl Curley died at the age of 51 of "alcohol toxicity"
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1996· 3 entries
Randi established the James Randi Educational Foundation
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
When Randi put up $1,000 of his own money payable to anyone who could provide objective proof of the paranormal
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Randi launched a libel suit against a Toronto-area psychic named Earl Gordon Curley
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1995· 1 entry
And he was ordered to pay $120,000 for filing a frivolous lawsuit
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1989· 2 entries
Awarded Joseph A. Burton Forum Award (1989).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Wherein Randi examined several people claiming psychic powers
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1988· 1 entry
John Maddox, editor of the prominent science journal Nature, asked Randi to join the supervision and observation of the homeopathy experiments conducted by Jacques Benveniste's team
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1987· 1 entry
Randi became a naturalized citizen of the United States
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1986· 2 entries
Awarded MacArthur Fellows Program (1986).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Randi met Alvarez in a Fort Lauderdale public library after he had recently moved to Florida
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1982· 1 entry
Randi verified the abilities of Arthur Lintgen, a Philadelphia doctor, who was able to identify the classical music recorded on a vinyl LP solely by examining the grooves on the record
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1976· 1 entry
Randi approached Ray Hyman, a psychologist who had observed the tests of Geller's ability at Stanford and thought them slipshod, and suggested they create an organization dedicated to combating pseudoscience
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1973· 1 entry
Geller appeared on The Tonight Show, and this appearance is recounted in the Nova documentary "Secrets of the Psychics"
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1972· 1 entry
When he publicly challenged the claims of Uri Geller
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1970· 1 entry
Auditioned for a revival of the 1950s children's show The Magic Clown, which showed briefly in Detroit and in Kenya, but was never picked up
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1964· 1 entry
Randi was given Nebel's time slot on WOR, where he hosted The Amazing Randi Show until January 1966, and often had guests who defended paranormal claims, among them Randi's then-friend James W
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1956· 1 entry
Appeared live on NBC's Today show, where he remained for 104 minutes in a sealed metal coffin that had been submerged in a hotel swimming pool, breaking what was said to be Harry Houdini's record of 93 minutes, though
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1928· 1 entry
Born 1928-08-07.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #birth