A Short Biography of America’s Famous Gangster, Al Capone

Al Capone was born on January 17, 1899, in Brooklyn, New York, to an immigrant family. Capone dropped out of school after the sixth grade and became involved with many of the city's notorious gangs. Al Capone was famous 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. He grew up in a very rough and dangerous part of town and was a member of two street gangs.

Between his jobs, he was a store clerk, a pin boy in a bowling alley, and a cutter in a bookbindery. As soon as he could, Capone was back out in Manhattan with another gang called the Five Points Gang. Scarface, Capone's nickname, was made during a confrontation at the Harvard Inn, where he bartended. In 1918, Capone met a young lady named Mary Coughlin at a dance, who soon became the mother of his child on December 4 of that year. They named their son Albert Sonny Francis.

Al Capone was known for being the leader of Chicago. Any drug, alcohol, or murder that went down in Chicago, you knew Capone was in it. Capone was in and out of jails, prisons, and penitentiaries his whole life. He lived like a king everywhere he went, and everyone knew who he was. That all ended for Capone when he was sent to Alcatraz from Atlanta. He knew he had a chance there. Letters sent to Alcatraz were monitored and written again by the guards; only one visitor a month was allowed, and it was on an island where no one could just walk up and be let in. The Valentine Massacre was one of the biggest crimes Capone is said to have been associated with. Until this day, they do not know who was involved, but it was the bloodiest murder scene ever.

Men were lined up against a garage and all blown away—not a living soul in sight (that's what the killers thought). One man lived for one day, and to the police, this would be their way to catch Capone. When they questioned the man he quoted, he could not answer and died immediately after that. Capone was never caught for that murder. Many years later, Al Capone did die of a disease, was well remembered by many people in the world, and will always be the number one gangster in history.

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