Al Capone

Capone had 8 other siblings. Two of his brothers Ralph and Frank worked along with him, and managed few activities of his gang. Ralph mainly looked after the bottling business, which had both legal and illegal aspects, hence earning him the nickname ‘bottles’.

Capone had an affair with a woman named Mae Josephine Coughlin. Coughlin was pregnant with their son Albert before the marriage. Post Albert’s birth, Capone and Coughlin got married, in 1918.

After Capone earned enough money he bought a modest house in the south side of Chicago where he moved along with his family, including his siblings.

Al Capone was born on 17 January 1899, in New York, to Teresina and Gabriele Capone. Both his parents were immigrants of Italian origin. While Capone’s mother worked as a seamstress, his father Gabriele worked as a barber. His original name was Alphonse Capone.

Capone discontinued his studies when he was just a sixth grader. It’s claimed that he was expelled from school since he had assaulted his teacher. He later took up petty jobs to support himself.

Capone was soon noticed by then noted gangster Johnny Torrio. In 1920, Torrio took the young Capone under his wings, and made him a part of the infamous ‘Chicago Outfit’. The gang was into businesses such as prostitution, drug trafficking, and many others.

Capone soon became a deputy to Johnny Torrio after James Colosimo, also known as ‘Big Jim’ was brutally killed. ‘Big Jim’ was the founder of the gang, and completely controlled the prostitution business himself. It was alleged that his death was a conspiracy planned by Capone himself.

In 1925, few members of rival gangs tried assassinating Capone, but he escaped. Within a few days even Johnny Torrio was attacked. Post these incidents, Torrio decided to flee the country. He appointed Capone as the new head of the gang.

The then 26 year old Capone had a lot of responsibilities on his shoulders. Other than the flesh trade, there were also liquor and transportation businesses to handle. Capone used violence to the best of his advantage to extract more income out of such businesses. Firms had no choice but to trade with Capone’s gang, else they had to face dire consequences.

Capone became such an influential person that he played an important role in helping politician William Thompson win the election of Mayor of Chicago. Capone had apparently donated $250,000 to support William in the 1927 elections, in which the latter emerged victorious. However, Capone’s growing notoriety posed to be a threat for William’s political image, and the gangster was ignored very soon.

The US government decided to tighten its screws on Capone in 1927. He was asked to declare all his illegal assets.

A crime which Capone is remembered for till date is the St. Valentine’s Day massacre of 1929. Capone wanted to completely wipe out the ‘North Side’ gang, most importantly its leader Bugs Moran to take Chicago’s control completely under his wings.

Capone’s henchmen stayed in a dwelling near Moran’s warehouse to keep a close watch on his movements. Capone’s gang members then posed as policeman and carried out a fake raid on Moran’s hideout. The seven members of the Moran gang were then gunned down by Capone’s men.