The history of Alcatraz, "The Rock"

Alcatraz is situated next San Francisco. It was not originally a prision. It was build in 1850 as a military fortress for the US Army. It became a prision in 1934. About 270 prisioners lived in the prision at the time, like murderers, kidnappers and gangsters. The prision was closed in 1963, because it was too expensive to manage. A total of 1545 prisioners lived in Alcatraz from 1934 to 1963.

Alcatraz prision is a big tourist atraction, every year about one milion people visit the Island. It takes just 45 minutes by ferry from San Francisco.
There are many books and films about prisioners trying to scape from Alcatraz. But in reality, it was impossible to scape from the Island. In total, 36 men tried to scape, 31 were captured or killed by the prision guards. The other five probably drowed in the sea.

I think that this prision was one of the most dangerous in the world, most of people, like me, doesn't know exacly how is Alcatraz and where is situated. So I lend you a photografy of that Rock.