Fort Knox
Fort Knox
A United States Army reservation, located approximately 35 miles south of Louisville, Kentucky, which is the site of the principal gold bullion depository of the U.S. government.
In June 1940 an airplane en route to Fort Knox with a valuable gold shipment is hijacked by the villain Medini (Act No. 25).
In August 1943, during a period when he is suffering from temporary amnesia and under the influence of the evil Professor Praline, Superman tunnels his way into the subterranean vaults at Fort Knox--referred to in this text as Fort Blox--in order to help Praline and his henchmen loot the Federal gold reserve of $20,000,000,000 in gold bullion (Act No. 63: "When Stars Collide!").
In August 1960, Lex Luthor dupes Hercules into helping him loot Fort Knox and carry off a ton of gold, but Superman apprehends Luthor soon afterward with some friendly assistance from Hercules (Act No. 267/1: "Hercules in the 20th Century!").
In June 1961,Lex Luthor and his henchmen, aided by a stunning array of Luthor's superscientific apparatus, stage a spectacular robbery of the Fort Knox gold reserve, carrying off every ounce of gold in the depository and apparently making a fool out of Superman when he attempts to stop them. Later, however, when Luthor learns that Superman was away in outer space at the time of the robbery and that all he and his henchmen outwitted was one of Superman's Superman robots, Luthor leaves the stolen bullion stacked in an open field and telephones the police to come and collect it.
"Now why should he steal the stuff and--and then return it?" asks a puzzled policeman.
"Knowing his insane conceit, I'd say the answer was obvious," replies Superman. "He felt that stealing the gold when I wasn't around to interfere was like stealing candy from a baby!" (Act No. 277/1: "The Conquest of Superman!"). (See Superman Robot-in-Training)
In April 1962, while in the grip of a nightmare induced by exposure to Red Kryptonite, Superman dreams of robbing Fort Knox by melting the bullion with his heat vision and siphoning it into waiting tank trucks. This robbery, however, is only part of a nightmare, and no actual robbery of Fort Knox takes place (Act No. 287/1: "Perry White's Manhunt for Superman!"). (TGSB)
Superboy once accidentally changes all the gold in Fort Knox to lead by focusing too intently with his X-Ray vision. In order to replace the bullion, he is forced to live under the earth and gradually find new deposits to make new gold bars (SB No. 59/1, Sep 1957: "Superboy's Underground Exile").
(See also: Pete Corey)
