Highlights
Al Capone, most notorious gangster in American history, was born to Italian immigrant parents in Brooklyn, New York, in 1899. He was given the nickname Scarface as a young hoodlum after being cut in the face during an altercation. (His friends, however, called him Snorky, which means elegant.) As a member of New York's Five Points Gang, Capone went west to serve as muscle for Chicago crime boss "Big Jim" Colosimo. When Colosimo was murdered, Capone's friend Johnny Torrio took over as Chicago's top mobster, and when Torrio barely survived an assassination attempt, he fled Chicago and left Capone in charge. The fortunes to be made from alcohol sales during Prohibition led Capone on a vicious c...
Al Capone, most notorious gangster in American history, was born to Italian immigrant parents in Brooklyn, New York, in 1899. He was given the nickname Scarface as a young hoodlum after being cut in the face during an altercation. (His friends, however, called him Snorky, which means elegant.) As a member of New York's Five Points Gang, Capone went west to serve as muscle for Chicago crime boss "Big Jim" Colosimo. When Colosimo was murdered, Capone's friend Johnny Torrio took over as Chicago's top mobster, and when Torrio barely survived an assassination attempt, he fled Chicago and left Capone in charge. The fortunes to be made from alcohol sales during Prohibition led Capone on a vicious campaign to eliminate his competition. Capone's reign of murders culminated in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre in 1929. He often avoided conviction through jury tampering and witness intimidation, but he was finally brought to justice in 1931 on charges of federal income tax evasion. After seven and a half years in prison, Capone was freed in 1938 as his syphilis grew worse. He died in 1947.
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Obama's kind of town
Chicago Tribune Staff WriterNot everyone can make it to Washington for the inauguration, but can we find another way to pass a winter weekend and still feel some of that presidential pizazz? Yes we can. And Chicago is just the place to do it. As President-elect Barack Obama...Tags: National Government, University of Chicago, Constitutional Issues, Cheese, 2008 U.S. Presidential Election
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Sportsman's Park rides off into the sunset
A relief of a rider and horse still adorn the entrance to Sportsman's Park/Chicago Motor Speedway in Cicero, but the inside is a tangle of steel and concrete. Demolition began Monday on the racetrack started by Al Capone. The 68-acre site has sat idle...Tags: Cicero
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Start new year with sins, cinema
It's resolution time, so here are some movies to help you define your failings. If you're not as bad as these characters, take the year off from self-improvement.
Lust
"9 1/2 Weeks": Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger play strangers who spend the title...Tags: Ashton Kutcher, Minnesota, Robert De Niro, Kim Basinger, Bridget Fonda
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Al Capone's house to go on the market
Tribune reporterWant to own a notorious piece of Chicago history? The modest, red-brick home once owned by Al Capone is expected to hit the market this spring for an estimated $450,000, marking a new chapter for the infamous South Side landmark that has had just two...Tags: Organized Crime, California, Crimes, History, Cicero
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A scandal with scant whiff of Chicago
Chicago has gotten so used to being at the center of things—with Barack Obama's comings and goings and Rod Blagojevich cussing into a wiretapped phone—that it's strange to be out of the mix on the Madoff affair. Bernard Madoff allegedly...Tags: Steven Spielberg, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bernard Madoff, Los Angeles, Mort Zuckerman
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10 classic style movies that inspire moviegoers
Movies have always influenced style. In 1934 -- when Clark Gable shed his shirt in the Frank Capra comedy "It Happened One Night" to reveal his bare chest -- men's undershirt sales reportedly plummeted. Men didn't suddenly tire of layering. They saw an...Tags: Gena Rowlands, Uma Thurman, Wine, Beer, and Spirits, Clark Gable, Dining and Drinking
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Diver's education
RedEyeSandwiched between an alley and a liquor store, Rossi's, with its green awning and steel door cluttered with union election stickers, looks like a shady hole in the wall on State Street in River North. But appearances don't stop patrons from trickling...Tags: Wine, Beer, and Spirits, Restaurant and Catering Industry, Dining and Drinking, Frank Sinatra, Bars and Clubs
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Obama from Chicago's political machine?
The SwampMayor Richard J. Daley at Chicago City Hall at June 14, 1973 press conference. Chicago Tribune photo by George Quinn. by Frank James Although the 2008 presidential campaign is over, its talking points apparently aren't, particularly the one about......Tags: Volleyball, National Government, Bill Clinton, Jane Byrne, Regional Authority
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What would Lincoln say?
In exposing Illinois' latest affront to decent government, U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald claimed that Gov. Rod Blagojevich's conduct would cause Abraham Lincoln to roll over in his grave. Maybe so, though given the tawdry tradition of recent Illinois...Tags: Kankakee, Adlai Stevenson, Executive Branch, Jim Edgar, Regional Authority
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London papers dub Chicago 'kickback city,' note 'greasy pole of Illinois politics'
Tribune correspondentLondon papers took pains to note that Democratic President-elect Barack Obama was not involved in the Gov. Rod Blagojevich affair, but the scandal did darken the image of Chicago, a city that has recently seen an international boost with Obama's election....Tags: Corrupt Practices, Robert Grant, National Government, Executive Branch, Federal Bureau of Investigation
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