The Battle of Alcatraz, which lasted from May 2 to 4, 1946, was the result of an escape attempt at Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary by armed convicts. Two Federal Bureau of Prisons officersWilliam A. Miller and Harold Stiteswere killed (Miller by one of the inmates who attempted escape, Joseph Cretzer, and Stites by friendly fire) along with three of the perpetrators. Fourteen other officers and one uninvolved convict were also injured. Two of the perpetrators were executed in 1948 for their roles.

San Francisco Bay is a shallow estuary in the U.S. state of California. It is surrounded by a contiguous region known as the San Francisco Bay Area (often simply "the Bay Area"), and is dominated by the large cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland.

San Francisco Bay drains water from approximately 40 percent of California. Water from the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, and from the Sierra Nevada mountains, flow into Suisun Bay, which then travels through the Carquinez Strait to meet with the Napa River at the entrance to San Pablo Bay, which connects at its south end to San Francisco Bay. It then connects to the Pacific Ocean via the Golden Gate strait. However, this entire group of interconnected bays is often called the San Francisco Bay. The bay was designated a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance on February 2, 2017.