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Alcatraz gained notoriety from its inception as the toughest prison in the U.S., considered by many the world's most fearsome prison of the day. Former prisoners reported brutality and inhumane conditions which severely tested their sanity. [13] [14] [15] Ed Wutke was the first prisoner to commit suicide in Alcatraz.
Escape from Alcatraz is a 1963 non-fiction book, written by San Francisco Chronicle reporter John Campbell Bruce, [1] [2] [3] ...
The Battle of Alcatraz, which lasted from May 2 to 4, 1946, was the result of an escape attempt at Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary by armed convicts. Two Federal Bureau of Prisons officers—William A. Miller and Harold Stites—were killed (Miller by inmate Joseph Cretzer who attempted escape and Stites by friendly fire).
John Knight Giles (February 16, 1895 – February 8, 1979) was an inmate at Alcatraz prison, most well known for an escape attempt in 1945. [1] [2] [3] He was originally sentenced to the United States Penitentiary on May 11, 1935, for attempted robbery of the Denver and Rio Grande Western mail train; he had previously been serving a life sentence in Oregon for murder before escaping.
John Paul Scott (January 3, 1927 [1] – February 22, 1987 [2]) was an American criminal who is noted as the only escapee from Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary known to have reached the San Francisco shore by swimming. He was recaptured almost immediately.
Alcatraz was barely affected by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake which devastated the city, and the prison population dramatically increased as prisoners were temporarily transferred to the island due to damage in the city. [6] In 1907, Alcatraz Citadel ceased function as a military defense and became the Pacific Branch, U.S. Military Prison ...
On December 16, 1962, Alcatraz inmate John Paul Scott made water wings from inflated rubber gloves [39] and swam 2.7 nautical miles (5.0 km; 3.1 mi) from Alcatraz to Fort Point, at the southern end of the Golden Gate Bridge. He was found there by teenagers, suffering from hypothermia and exhaustion. [40]
Alcatraz Island (/ ˈ æ l k ə ˌ t r æ z /) is a small island 1.25 miles (2.01 km) offshore from San Francisco, California, United States. [1] The island was developed in the mid-19th century with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, and a military prison.