Al Capone
By: Chris VanDerzee
Al Capone overview
Born in the borough of Brooklyn in New York City to Italian immigrants, Capone became involved with gang activity at a young age after having been expelled from school at age 14. In his early twenties, he moved to Chicago to take advantage of a new opportunity to make money smuggling illegal alcoholic beverages into the city during Prohibition. He also engaged in various other criminal activities, including bribery of government.
What did he do?
Capone was involved in gang activity and smuggling illegal alcoholic beverages during prohibition. He did this for various reasons: money, fame, and to go against prohibition and teach the government what it meant to him and the people who bought it from him.
Pictures of Al Capone
What impact did he have on the U.S. History?
Al Capone was a ruthless gangster who authorized or performed slayings of hundreds of people for example Saint Valentine's Day massacre. But believe it or not, he also had a generous heart. Capone was the first to open soup kitchens to feed the hungry after the Stock Market Crash in 1929. While he committed horrible crimes, he was arrested and convicted for tax evasion. Capone was an inmate on Alcatraz island from 1934 to 1939, a maximum security prison that housed some of the world's most dangerous criminals. But the most important fact was that he was a big part of prohibition and was against it.
What was he best known for?
Al Capone is best known for being America's best known gangster and the single greatest symbol of the collapse of law and order in the United States during the 1920s Prohibition era. Capone had a leading role in the illegal activities that lent Chicago its reputation as a lawless city.
Facts
Marriage
In 1918, Capone met an Irish girl named Mary "Mae" Coughlin at a dance. On December 4, 1918, Mae gave birth to their son, Albert "Sonny" Francis. Capone and Mae married that year on December 30.