Alcatraz Island the prison's true stories and myths
Famous criminals of Alcatraz: To name a few: Al Capone, Bumpy Johnson, Mickey Cohen, Alvin Karpis and James 'Whitey' Bulger were there.
So close, yet so far: In 1945, an inmate by the name of John Giles managed to escape the island by stealing an army uniform from the laundry bags and getting onto an army truck.
Its name comes from Spain: The first curiosity about this old prison leads to Spain, the country of origin of the explorer Juan Manuel Ayala, who rediscovered the island in 1775.
An average of 8 years per prisoner: Prisoners who caused problems in other prisons were sent to Alcatraz.
The impregnable prison: Known as 'The Rock', legend speaks of a prison from which no one escaped due to its security measures, because it was surrounded by the icy waters of the Pacific.
Alcatraz Triatlon: The waters of the San Francisco Bay are part of the famous Alcatraz Triathlon held every year, to prove that escape from Alcatraz was not impossible.
The only prison with hot showers: The showers at Alcatraz were always supplied with moderately hot water, in order to hinder inmates from becoming acclimated to the cold Bay waters.
One successful escape in 29 years: Out of 14 attempts in the history of the prison, only one successful escape has been recorded, that of the Anglin brothers and Frank Morris in 1962.
The Hopi resistence: The Hopi Hostiles were a group of 19 Hopi men (a native-American tribe) who were imprisoned on Alcatraz when it was still under military control.
Incarceration didn't work: The government figured that hard labor and confinement would eventually force them to submit, and they were held from January to August of 1895.