The US media has really gone to town with the escape of two long-term criminals from the Clinton Correctional Center near Dannemora in northern New York state. This is said to be first successful escape from the facility since it started functioning in 1865. This NY Times article sums up what is known today:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/08/nyregion/convicts-escape-prison-in-upstate-new-york.html?_r=0
(Tail piece: see how small errors in the report have been corrected in the end. This is quite rare in the Indian print media)
In case you are wondering, the facility is named after George Clinton, the first Governor of New York State (and later Vice-President of the US) and NOT Bill and Hillary.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinton_Correctional_Facility
Anyway, there have been other impregnable prisons in the US, the best known being Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay.
https://www.google.co.in/maps/@37.8266029,-122.4228235,13z
At the time it was closed in 1963, this was its “scorecard”:
During its 29 years of operation, the penitentiary claimed that no prisoner successfully escaped. A total of 36 prisoners made 14 escape attempts, two men trying twice; 23 were caught, six were shot and killed during their escape, two drowned, and five are listed as “missing and presumed drowned”.
There is some belief that one of the last attempts in 1962 might have been successful but this has never been proved conclusively. For more on this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_1962_Alcatraz_escape
Today, of course, it is on the main tourist circuit at San Francisco. It has figured in a number of well-known movies, including
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escape_from_Alcatraz_%28film%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rock_%28film%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birdman_of_Alcatraz_%28film%29
It remains to be seen if the recent CCC escape is successful. The facility is not too far from the Canadian border which might make things more complicated.
abn397 