ALCATRAZ
PRISON
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the important events of alcatraz
In 1775,there was a Spanish explorer named Juan Manuel de Ayala, he mapped an island named rugged Alcatraz Island, christening it La Isla de los Alcatraces, or Island of the Pelicans, due to its large population of sea birds.
SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS LATER, IN 1850, PRESIDENt millARD FILLMORE SIGNED AN ORDER RESERVING THE ISLAND FOR MILITARY USE. DURING THE 1850S, A FORTRESS WAS CONSTRUCTED ON ALCATRAZ AND about 100 CANNONS WERE INSTALLED AROUND THE ISLAND TO PROTECT SAN FRANCISCO BAY, DURING THIS TIME, ALCATRAZ BECAME HOME TO THE WEST COAST’S FIRST OPERATIONAL LIGHTHOUSE.
the escape of alcatraz
in September 1961 some guys named frank lee Morris, allen West, and john and clarence Anglin began to plan an escape that will change the way people think about "the rock" .they took of on the night of June 11, 1962.
They fabricated dummy heads from a mixture of soap, toilet paper and real hair, and left them in their beds to fool prison officers making night-time inspections.
They escaped from their cells by crawling through holes in the cell walls which they had dug with spoons over the course of a year. This put them into an unused service corridor. West could not make it out of his cell and was left behind.
From the service corridor they climbed a ventilation shaft to reach the roof. Security guards brushed off the loud sound of the shaft smashing through the roof as nothing serious. Since nothing more was heard, the issue was left unpursued. The trio then climbed down from the rooftop, scaled the prison's fence and assembled a raft from the prison's standard-issue raincoats and contact cement. They pumped up the raft on the northeastern coast of the island. At around 10 p.m. they climbed aboard, shoved off, and started paddling.
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