On this day back in 1899, ‘Big Al’ Capone was brought into this world for better or for worse, so here are five facts you may not know about Brooklyn born Chicago gangster.
Capone was worth a lot of dough back in the day
Al Capone made his money back in the prohibition days in the US by smuggling illegal liquor into Chicago as well as running a string of brothels. It transpired to be quite a lucrative business as the US Government estimated that the notorious gangster was worth $100,000,000 – but that was back in the 1920s-1930s. If he had that money today he’d be worth a whopping $1.2bn (yes, that’s BILLION).
He had a brother… who was a prohibition cop
While Al’s game was smuggling illegal liquor into cities, his brother’s racket was, ironically, stopping people from smuggling illegal liquor into cities. Al and his brother, James Capone (he later changed his name to Richard James Hart) were actually somewhat estranged. James left for the circus in 1908 at age 16 and didn’t see his brother again until the 1930s when he went to his crime-boss brother looking for money.
Capone had a pretty famous nickname
Capone was given the nickname ‘Scarface’ after an incident outside a nightclub. He had allegedly insulted the sister of a random bloke named Frank Gallucio outside a bar where Capone worked as a bouncer. Apparently, Capone told Frank’s sister: “Honey, you got a nice butt and I mean that as a compliment, believe me”. Unsurprisingly, Frank didn’t want a bouncer hitting on his little sister and lashed out at Capone with a pocket knife. Capone never sought revenge on young Frank – luckily for Frank.
His car was seized and then used by President Roosevelt
Capone had a specially outfitted, bullet-proof Cadillac that was seized by the U.S. Treasury Department back in 1932. Instead of destroying the car, which had been kitted out to the nines, it was later used by the government as Franklin Roosevelt’s limousine. God only knows what Capone got up to in the back seat of that Caddy.
‘Big Al’ spent four and a half years on ‘The Rock’
Capone had a knack for making prison life easy for himself. Thanks to his ability to smooth talk the hind legs off a donkey, he would easily manipulate prison guards to work for him and this became evident when he began an 11-year sentence in Atlanta back in 1932. Apparently, he would ‘tip’ guards that would ‘help him out’ and some reports say his cell was carpeted. This life of luxury on the inside was quickly stopped when he was transferred to the prison called The Rock, better known as Alcatraz. Capone always tried to sweet-talk the guards and wardens, but he conceded defeat one day saying: “It looks like Alcatraz has got me licked.”
