| He was born Alphonsus Capone in Brooklyn, NY on | | | | After looking for a new city Capone quickly realized |
| January 17, 1899. An intricate and complicated man, | | | | his life of murder and corruption left him with few |
| Al Capone would become the most well-known | | | | places in the country he was safe. He eventually |
| gangster of our time and come to symbolize | | | | settled in Palm Island, Florida in 1928 and survived |
| lawlessness in Chicago. As a kid Capone lived in one | | | | several attempts on his life. Being a master of |
| of Brooklyn's toughest neighborhoods and was a | | | | networking allowed him to control everyone from the |
| member of two youth gangs, the Brooklyn Rippers | | | | newspaper boy to the Chicago Police Department |
| and the Forty Thieves Juniors. Always intelligent, | | | | which thwarted most attempts on Capone's life while |
| Capone quit school at age 14 and worked small-time | | | | still allowing him to exact revenge from afar. |
| scams while holding jobs at different local stores and | | | | Most notorious of all his assassinations was the St. |
| bowling alleys. He became an integral part of the Five | | | | Valentine's Day Massacre. On February 14, 1929, four |
| Points gang in Manhattan and worked for famed | | | | of Capone's men entered rival George "Bugs" Moran's |
| gangster Frankie Yale at his Harvard Inn bar as a | | | | bootlegging headquarters; two dressed as police fired |
| bouncer and bartender. During his time at the Inn, Al | | | | over 150 rounds into the seven men. Moran was the |
| would earn his nickname "Scarface" from a wound he | | | | intended victim but saw the "police" and stayed |
| received after being attack by the brother of an | | | | across the street to avoid arrest. Capone was of |
| insulted female patron. In 1918, Capone met Mary | | | | course in Florida when the murders happen and could |
| "Mae" Coughlin, their son Albert "Sonny" Francis was | | | | not be charged for them. |
| born on December 4, 1918; they were married soon | | | | Known for his loyalty, honor, and generosity Capone |
| after on December 30th. | | | | was the first to open soup kitchens after the 1929 |
| Capone's first run in with police came while working | | | | stock market crash and ordered merchants to give |
| at the Inn over a disorderly conduct charge. He also | | | | clothes and food to residents on his tab; conversely |
| was charged in the murder of two men in New York | | | | he was ordering dozens of murders and even |
| but when witnesses would not come forward he | | | | murdering many victims himself. Despite his absence |
| was released; this would not be the last time | | | | from the Second City, in 1930 Capone was named |
| gang-etiquette would keep Capone from going to | | | | Chicago's "Public Enemy Number One" and in 1931 he |
| prison. After putting a rival gang member in the | | | | was indicted for federal income tax evasion. The |
| hospital, Yale sent Capone to Chicago so things could | | | | government claimed Capone owed $215,080.48 in |
| blow over. In 1919 the Capone family moved to | | | | taxes from his illegal gambling profits. Unable to |
| South Prairie Avenue where Al went to work for | | | | bargain with the judge or bribe the jury Capone was |
| Yale's mentor John Torrio. Capone's physical strength | | | | sentenced to ten years in federal prison and one |
| mixed with his high intelligence moved him quickly to | | | | year in county jail. His fines totaled $50,000 and |
| the top of Torrio's bootlegging business. By 1922 | | | | prosecution fees of $7,692.29. |
| Capone was Torrio's number two man and eventually | | | | Initially sentenced to the toughest federal prison in |
| became a full partner in all saloons, gambling houses, | | | | Atlanta, he quickly bribed guards and gained an elite |
| and brothels. After Torrio was shot by a rival gang | | | | status. He was then moved to Alcatraz where he no |
| and decided to leave Chicago, Capone became the | | | | contact with the outside world and no way to buy |
| boss of the organization and by 1930 controlled | | | | influence, he became a model inmate and refused to |
| almost all of Chicago with an annual income of over | | | | participate in riots or uprisings. While in prison he |
| $100,000,000. | | | | suffered dementia due to syphilis and was |
| This wealth combined with his very public influence in | | | | transferred to Terminal Island where he finished his |
| local politics gave Capone a very high profile in | | | | sentence until he was released on November 16, |
| Chicago. Chicago mayor William "Big Bill" Thompson | | | | 1939. He returned to his Florida home where he lived |
| decided Capone was bad for his political image and | | | | a quiet peaceful life until his death from cardiac arrest |
| hired a new police chief to rid the city of Al Capone.. | | | | on January 25, 1947. |