Today in History: August 11, Alcatraz takes first federal prisoners

Today is Tuesday, Aug. 11, the 223rd day of 2026. There are 142 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Aug. 11, 1934, the first federal prisoners arrived at Alcatraz Island, a former military prison, in San Francisco Bay; the island would be home to more than 1,500 prisoners over the next three decades, including gangsters Al Capone and James “Whitey” Bulger, before closing in 1963.

Also on this date:

In 1919, Germany’s Weimar Constitution was signed by President Friedrich Ebert.

In 1929, Babe Ruth became the first baseball player to reach 500 career home runs with a homer at Cleveland’s League Park.

In 1949, President Harry S. Truman nominated Gen. Omar N. Bradley to become the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

In 1952, Hussein bin Talal was proclaimed King of Jordan, beginning a reign lasting nearly 47 years.

In 1956, abstract painter Jackson Pollock died in an automobile accident on Long Island, New York, at age 44.

In 1965, rioting that claimed 34 lives and lasted six days broke out in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles.

In 1972, the last U.S. ground combat troops left South Vietnam to return to the United States.

In 1973, at a house party in the Bronx, 18-year-old DJ Kool Herc began extending the musical breaks of the records he was playing and speaking over the beat, marking the (unofficial) birth of hip-hop music.

In 1992, the Mall of America, the nation’s largest shopping and entertainment center, opened in Bloomington, Minnesota.

In 1997, President Bill Clinton made the first use of the line-item veto, rejecting three items in spending and tax bills. (The U.S. Supreme Court later struck down the veto as unconstitutional.)

In 2012, more than 300 people were killed and more than 3,000 injured after earthquakes struck near Tabriz, Iran.

In 2014, Academy Award-winning actor and comedian Robin Williams died in Tiburon, California, at age 63.

Today’s Birthdays: Magazine columnist Marilyn Vos Savant is 80. Country music singer John Conlee is 80. Computer scientist and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is 76. Musician Joe Jackson is 72. Playwright David Henry Hwang is 69. Actor Viola Davis is 61. Actor Embeth Davidtz is 61. Actor-host Joe Rogan is 59. Actor Anna Gunn is 58. Actor Sophie Okonedo (oh-koh-NAY’-doh) is 58. Rock guitarist Charlie Sexton is 58. Hip-hop artist Ali Shaheed Muhammad (A Tribe Called Quest) is 56. Actor Will Friedle is 50. Rock singer Ben Gibbard is 50. Actor Merritt Wever is 46. Actor Chris Hemsworth is 43. Rapper Asher Roth is 41. Political commentator Tomi Lahren is 34. Actor Alyson Stoner is 33.