1915 in organized crime
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See also:
1914 in organized crime
,
other events of 1915,
1916 in organized crime
and the
list of 'years in organized crime'
.
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1914 in organized crime
1914 in organized crime
See also:1913 in organized crime,other events of 1914,1915 in organized crime and thelist of 'years in Organized Crime'.-----Events:*During his first year in office, NYPD Police Commissioner Arthur Woods arrests more than 200 gangsters....
,
other events of 1915,
1916 in organized crime
1916 in organized crime
See also:1915 in organized crime,other events of 1916,1917 in organized crime and thelist of 'years in organized crime'.-----Events:*Summer - New York Police break up the last of the Manhattan street gangs, including the Hudson Dusters, from The Battery to Spuyten Duyvil. Many of these former gang...
and the
list of 'years in organized crime'
Timeline of organized crime
This is a timeline of the history of organized crime.Note: Sources included are Carl Sifakis's The Mafia Encyclopedia, Herbert Asbury's The Gangs of New York and others. Online references also include Thomas P...
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Events
- United States
- Joseph DiGiovanni and Peter DiGiovanni are arrested by Kansas CityKansas City, MissouriKansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
police detective Louis Olivero after twenty extortion victims reported their activities. Before they are brought to trial however Olivero is shot in the back and killed. The DiGiovannis remain in power until the 1950s1950sThe 1950s or The Fifties was the decade that began on January 1, 1950 and ended on December 31, 1959. The decade was the sixth decade of the 20th century...
. - The Black HandBlack Hand (blackmail)Black Hand was a type of extortion racket. It was a method of extortion, not a criminal organization as such, though gangsters of Camorra and the Mafia practiced it.-Origins:...
led by Sam CardinelliSam CardinelliSamuele Cardinelli [Salvatore Cardinella] was a Chicago mobster, extortionist, and leader of Cardinelli Gang during the 1920s....
begin setting off over eight hundred bombings killing over twenty people and wounding hundreds more until 19181918 in organized crimeSee also:1917 in organized crime,other events of 1918,1919 in organized crime and thelist of 'years in Organized Crime'.-----Events:*Frankie Yale takes leadership of the Unione Siciliane after founder Ignazio "the Wolf" Lupo is convicted of numerous charges ranging from extortion to murder.*Black...
when they are convicted of murderMurderMurder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
and hanged. - Benjamin SnyderBenjamin SnyderBenjamin "Benny" Snyder or Schneider was an American criminal, union organizer and thug for hire during the turn of the century...
, an associate of New York labor racketeer Joseph "Greasy Joe" RosenzweigJoseph RosenzweigJoseph "Joe The Greaser" Rosenzweig was a Jewish American and New York labor racketeer in the early 1900s as an ally of "Dopey" Benny Fein during the labor slugger war from 1914-1917.-Biography:...
, is convicted of murder and sentenced to twenty years imprisonment - Peter H. MatthewsPeter H. MatthewsPeter H. Matthews was an operator of policy games in New York City.-Biography:In 1915, agents of Charles Henry Parkhurst's Society for the Prevention of Crime and 45 police officers raided his gambling operations and rounded up a number of persons connected with this crime. Many were known...
is arrested, tried, and jailed for operating policy gameNumbers gameNumbers game, also known as a numbers racket, policy racket or Italian lottery, is an illegal lottery played mostly in poor neighborhoods in the United States, wherein a bettor attempts to pick three digits to match those that will be randomly drawn the following day...
s throughout New York City. - Steve WallaceSteve WallaceSteve Wallace may refer to:*Steve Wallace , stock car driver*Steve Wallace , former NFL football player*Stephen Wallace , Australian film directorSee also...
, with his brothers Frank and Jimmy Wallace of the Gustin GangGustin GangThe Gustin Gang was one the earliest Irish-American gangs to emerge during the Prohibition and dominate Boston's underworld during the 1920s. The name "Gustin Gang" came from a street name in South Boston, which is off of Old Colony Ave .Originally formed by Steve Wallace, with his brothers Frank...
, begin hijacking and looting trucks in Southie often stripping cargo from the rear of the truck while stopped at intersections. The brothers are soon known by the press as the "Tailboard Thieves". - Al CaponeAl CaponeAlphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone was an American gangster who led a Prohibition-era crime syndicate. The Chicago Outfit, which subsequently became known as the "Capones", was dedicated to smuggling and bootlegging liquor, and other illegal activities such as prostitution, in Chicago from the early...
joins the James Street Gang under Johnny TorrioJohnny TorrioJohn "Papa Johnny" Torrio , also known as "The Fox", was an Italian-American mobster who helped build the criminal empire known as the Chicago Outfit in the 1920s that was later inherited by his protege, Al Capone...
, a satellite of the Five Points GangFive Points GangFive Points Gang was a 19th-century and early 20th-century criminal organization, primarily of Italian-American origins, based in the Sixth Ward of Manhattan, New York City. Since the early 19th century, the area was first known for gangs of Irish immigrants...
. - March 12 - Frank CostelloFrank CostelloFrank Costello was an Italian New York City gangster who rose to the top of America's underworld, controlled a vast gambling empire across the United States and enjoyed political influence.Nicknamed the "Prime Minister of the Underworld", he became one of the most powerful and influential Mafia...
is arrested for carrying a concealed weapons after detectives receive information from an informant. Costello is sentenced to one year in Welfare Island prison by Judge Edward SwannEdward SwannEdward Swann was an American lawyer and politician from New York.-Life:...
and is released after ten months. - July 15 - New York police lieutenant Charles BeckerCharles BeckerCharles Becker was a New York City police officer in the 1890s-1910s and who was tried, convicted and executed for ordering the murder of a Manhattan gambler, Herman Rosenthal in the Becker-Rosenthal trial. Becker was the first American police officer to receive the death penalty for murder...
is convicted of planning the murder of police informant Herman "Beansie" Rosenthal by the Lenox Avenue GangLenox Avenue GangThe Lenox Avenue Gang was an early 20th century New York City street gang led by Harry Horowitz, and was one of the most violent gangs of the pre-Prohibition era.-History:...
in 19121912 in organized crimeSee also:1911 in organized crime,other events of 1912,1913 in organized crime and thelist of 'years in organized crime'.-----Events:*Timothy "Big Tim" Sullivan, long time political boss of Tammany Hall, is committed to a sanitarium....
and executed at Sing Sing Prison.
- Joseph DiGiovanni and Peter DiGiovanni are arrested by Kansas City
- Japan
- The Yamaguchi-gumiYamaguchi-gumiis Japan's largest and most infamous yakuza organization. It is named after its founder Harukichi Yamaguchi. Its origins can be traced back to a loose labor union for dockworkers in Kobe pre-WWII....
organization begins operating in Japan.
- The Yamaguchi-gumi
Arts and literature
- Sidney M. GoldinSidney M. GoldinSidney M. Goldin was an American Jewish silent film director as well as a prominent writer, actor and producer for Yiddish theater during the early 20th century...
's The Last of the Mafia is released starring Jack J. ClarkJack J. ClarkJack Clark was an American director and actor of the early motion picture industry.Born John J. Clark in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania he became a theatrical actor and was induced to enter motion pictures in 1907 by Sidney Olcott of the New York based Kalem Studios during the silent film era...
, William Conrad and Katherine Lee.
Births
- Emil Nizich, New York mobster
- Salvatore SantoroSalvatore SantoroSalvatore T. "Tom Mix" Santoro, Sr. served as Underboss in the Lucchese crime family during the 1980s before being convicted in the Mafia Commission Trial and sentenced to 100 years in federal prison.-Early life:...
"Tom Mix", Lucchese crime familyLucchese crime familyThe Lucchese crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The family originated in the early 1920s with Gaetano "Tommy" Reina serving as boss up until his murder...
mobster - March 15 - Mario Anthony DeStefanoMario Anthony DeStefanoMario Anthony DeStefano was a "made" member of the Chicago Outfit and a leading loan shark.Born Mario Antonio DeStefano, he later anglicized his middle name. DeStefano grew up in Little Italy, Chicago, with his brothers, including future "mob associate" Sam "Mad Sam" DeStefano...
, Chicago OutfitChicago OutfitThe Chicago Outfit, also known as the Chicago Syndicate or Chicago Mob and sometimes shortened to simply the Outfit, is a crime syndicate based in Chicago, Illinois, USA...
member - June 20 - Paul CastellanoPaul CastellanoConstantino Paul "Big Paul" Castellano , also known as "The Howard Hughes of the Mob" and "Big Paulie" , was an American Mafia boss in New York City. He succeeded Carlo Gambino as head of the Gambino crime family, at the time, the nation's largest Mafia family...
"Big Paul", Gambino crime familyGambino crime familyThe Gambino crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The group is named after Carlo Gambino, boss of the family at the time of the McClellan hearings in 1963...
DonCrime bossA crime boss or boss is a person in charge of a criminal organization. A boss typically has absolute or near-absolute control over his subordinates, is greatly feared by his subordinates for his ruthlessness and willingness to take lives in order to exert his influence, and profits come from the... - November 15 - Santo Trafficante Jr., TampaTampa, FloridaTampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
MafiaMafiaThe Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
DonCrime bossA crime boss or boss is a person in charge of a criminal organization. A boss typically has absolute or near-absolute control over his subordinates, is greatly feared by his subordinates for his ruthlessness and willingness to take lives in order to exert his influence, and profits come from the...
Deaths
- John CondonJohn CondonJohn "Johnny" Condon was a British bantamweight professional boxer who competed in the early twentieth century.-Amateur career:...
"Blind John", Chicago racketeer involved in illegal gambling, bookmaking and horse racing