[2] Tait was promoted to Assistant Professor in 1914, but clashed mightily with the Head of Philosophy, William Caldwell.
In World War I, Tait commanded the 7th Canadian Siege Battery, which fought at the Battles of Vimy Ridge, Hill 70, and Passchendaele, among others.
[3] In April 1924, the university president, Arthur Currie, agreed to Tait's long demand that psychology be separated from Philosophy and given its own Department.
On October 19, 1926, Tait invited Harry Houdini, who was then performing in Montréal, to lecture at the McGill Union (now the McCord Museum) on the frauds perpetrated by psychics and spiritualist mediums.
The assault injured Houdini so severely that it is said by many to have led to his death in Detroit just nine days later, on October 31.