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Prohibition
Jan. 16, 1920 - "Prohibition" ("Volstead Act") took effect and was the "Law of the Land" for 13 years. While all legitimate estabishments that served alcohol had to close because of Prohibition, it's estimated that 200,000 speakeasies sprang up across the country to take their places. Between 1920 and 1928 the U.S. Treasury Department, which oversaw bringing bootlegged alcohol-making gangs - which included bathtub gin made by locals - to justice, fired 706 agents and prosecuted another 257 agent -
"Mossy"
Feb. 2, 1920 - Chicago labor racketeer Maurice "Mossy" Enright was killed near his South Side home. -
Gambling-Pimp Jim Colosimo
May 11, 1920 - Chicago gambling racketeer and pimp Jim Colosimo was gunned down outside his self-named restaurant, at 2126 S. Wabash Avenue, supposedly waiting for a shipment of some kind. Nobody was ever charged with the murder. The killer is suspected to be New York City gangster Frankie Yale.[24] -
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Organized crime/ Prohibition
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Sam Cardinelli
Apr. 15, 1921 - Sam Cardinelli, extortionist and "Black Hand" leader, was executed by the State of Illinois for the murder of a saloon owner, after a challenge to the execution was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. -
George Meegan
Sept. 17, 1923 - George Meegan, a Chicago bootlegger allied with the Southside O'Donnells, and Southside O'Donnell member George Bucher were killed by Frank McErlane. -
1923 Capone established
1923 - Al Capone established his headquarters at the Lexington Hotel, at the corner of 22nd Street and Michigan Avenue, in Chicago. He also gained control of the Chicago suburb of Cicero, IL, as a "safe base" for his illegal operations. -
Frank Capone killed
Apr. 1, 1924 - Violently predictable Frank Capone, brother of Al Capone, was killed by Cicero, IL, policemen during a gunfight which broke out in the City during the 1924 Chicago elections, during strong-arming support at the polls of gangster-backed, Republican politician Joseph Z. Klenha. Brother Al made sure his brother, Frank, had a "lavish" send-off at his funeral. -
Irish mobsters a year in jail
1924 - Prosperous Irish mobsters Paddy Lake and Terry Druggan, of Chicago's little-known Valley Gang, both got a year in jail for contempt of court. This gang was so successful it was eventually willingly taken in and made a part of Capone's organization by the end of Prohibition. -
Al Capone
Al Capone ran many illegal businesses including bootlegging, gambling, prostitution, and murders. There were many gangs in the world of organized crime and Al Capone's was at the top. He was the most infamous gangster in the 1920's.
