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The name
The name comes from a Spanish chart of 1775
Juan Manuel de Ayala charted San Francisco Bay in 1775 and named today's Yerba Buena Island La Isla de los Alcatraces, commonly believed to mean the Island of the Pelicans. The name was later applied to the rock now known as Alcatraz Island.
The fort
Fort Alcatraz mounted 85 cannons that were never fired at an enemy
The Army Corps of Engineers began fortifying the island, and the first version of the fort was complete in 1858. When the American Civil War broke out in 1861 it mounted 85 cannons, increased to 105 by 1866. It also held Confederate sympathizers.
85cannons mounted when the Civil War broke out
The prison
It was a federal prison from 1934 until March 21, 1963
In 1934 the island was converted into a federal prison. Strong tidal currents and cold water made escape nearly impossible. In its 29 years the prison held gangsters such as Al Capone and Robert Franklin Stroud, the Birdman of Alcatraz. It closed on March 21, 1963.
29 yearsthe federal prison was in use
June 1962
In June 1962 three men escaped through a vent and left dummy heads behind
On June 11, 1962, Frank Morris and brothers John and Clarence Anglin escaped. They dug through a vent for about three months with sharpened spoons and a vacuum cleaner motor drill. Dummy heads in their beds fooled the guards on nightly checks.
Occupation
United Indians of All Tribes occupied the island for nineteen months
Beginning on November 20, 1969, a group of Native Americans, mostly college students from San Francisco, occupied the island to protest federal policies. The occupation ended on June 11, 1971. The island became part of Golden Gate National Recreation Area in 1972.
Day 2, morning
Next is Palace of Fine Arts.
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The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Alcatraz Island, and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.