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Five curiosities you may not know about the Alcatraz prison in San Francisco

Alcatraz is an island in the eastern Pacific Ocean belonging to the municipality of San Francisco. It owes its fame to having housed, from 1934 to 1963, one of the most notorious penal institutions in the world, which was characterised by its maximum security conditions and almost total impossibility of escape.

First established as a US military fort and converted into a military prison in the early 1900s, it was converted into a federal prison to lock up the most problematic criminals from other prisons in the state. Its unique location has also inspired a great deal of fictional literature, as well as several cult films.

There are many curiosities and mysteries within its walls, and it is interesting to learn about the myths and legends of one of the most evocative, and once dangerous, places in the world.

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The five things you don't know about Alcatraz prison
Alcatraz is an island in the eastern Pacific Ocean belonging to the municipality of San Francisco. It owes its fame to having housed, from 1934 to 1963, one of the most notorious penal institutions in the world, which was characterised by its maximum security conditions and almost total impossibility of escape. First established as a US military fort and converted into a military prison in the early 1900s, it was converted into a federal prison to lock up the most problematic criminals from other prisons in the state. Its unique location has also inspired a great deal of fictional literature, as well as several cult films. There are many curiosities and mysteries within its walls, and it is interesting to learn about the myths and legends of one of the most evocative, and once dangerous, places in the world.
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Alcatraz prison nicknames.
The name of Alcatraz Island comes from the Spanish language and is the name of a seabird that lived on the island. Its name is Sula and it is a close relative of the pelican. The island is also nicknamed 'The Rock', because most of its surface is made up of rock, and 'The Bastion' (The Fortress), because it housed a military fort during the War of Secession.
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The most notorious attempt at evasion
Don Siegel's very famous film 'Escape from Alcatraz', starring Clint Eastwood, was inspired by a true story. In fact, in 1962, three prisoners, Frank Morris, John and Clarence Anglin, managed to escape from the prison, cross the bay and lose their tracks after digging a 91 cm hole in the wall of Block B. The tunnel was dug during music hours, when therefore the noise of the instruments covered the sound of the scooter digging (a spoon attached to a motor was their means of digging).
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"Escape from Alcatraz" has become a competition.
The legendary 1962 escape was the inspiration for a race that has been held annually since 1981. Its name is the 'Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon', and it is an endurance race that takes place in the very cold waters of the bay, with an average temperature of 12 degrees. Hundreds of athletes compete every year.
Di Photograph by D Ramey Logan, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=277255
Women on Alcatraz
During its operation as a prison, Alcatraz did not have a women's prison. However, some important women visited the island as tourists, such as Queen Elizabeth II and Jacqueline Kennedy.
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Al Capone's imprisonment (pictured is cell number 181, the one where the famous gangster was locked up)
The notorious Italian-American crime boss remained in Alcatraz prison for more than four years, after being punished for bribing the guards of other prisons. There, Al Capone was also rewarded for his conduct and gained access to the prison band, the Rock Ilanders, by playing the banjo.
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