While we are on the subject of crime, our listener question this week comes from Mohamad Firouzi in Iran. He wants to know about the history of Alcatraz Island and the prison that once operated there. Alcatraz Island is in the harbor of San Francisco, California. It is best known for being a federal prison, which was also called "The Rock." It was once the most famous prison in America. Alcatraz was a military prison from the late eighteen fifties until the nineteen thirties. Then it became a federal prison for the country's worst criminals. These included murderers, bank robbers and kidnappers. One of the main reasons federal officials chose Alcatraz Island to detain these prisoners was because they thought it would be impossible for prisoners to escape. Cold, deep and dangerous waters surround the island. Also, the distance between the island and San Francisco is too far for most humans to swim. No prisoner was ever officially reported to have successfully escaped. However, in nineteen sixty-two, three men broke out of the prison. Each man worked very hard at night for many months to cut through the stone wall of his cell. They made false heads out of paper, paint and hair. On the night of June eleventh, the men placed the heads in their beds to make it look as if they were sleeping. Then, the prisoners escaped through the holes in their cells to get to the water. The men were never seen or heard from again. It is believed that they drowned while trying to swim to San Francisco. The prison closed in nineteen sixty-three because of the high cost of keeping prisoners there and the need for major repairs. The last prisoners were moved to other jails. In nineteen seventy-two, the United States Congress passed a bill creating the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Alcatraz Island and the old prison are part of this area. Each year, more than one million people visit Alcatraz to see the prisoners' cells and listen to stories about the jail's history. But unlike the prisoners who once lived there, visitors can escape from the prison whenever they want and return back across the harbor to San Francisco. Now Alcatraz   _  .
is a place of interest . detains some prisoners. is where the United States Congress is. is still the most famous prison.