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The Notorious Inmates of Alcatraz
Located in the San Francisco Bay, Alcatraz Island was originally explored by Juan Manuel de Ayala in 1775, a Spaniard, who named the island Isla de los Alcatraces, meaning ‘island of the pelicans’.
In the 1850s, the U.S army built a fortress to protect the San Franciscans from war, but it was never used, and instead became a military prison. In 1909, the fortress was pulled down and the new prison was built was by prisoners from the military penitentiary.
The government took control of the new prison in 1933, and ‘The Rock’ became a federal penitentiary for the most dangerous prisoners. Because the prison was on an island, it was near impossible to escape from, and therefore housed several notorious criminals from the outset.
Al Capone
Al Capone was a crime boss for just seven years before he was sent to prison. Born in 1899 in New York City, he joined the Five Points Gang when he was a teenager and became a bouncer at the gang’s brothels and nightclubs.
