Events

• New York gangster Albert Anastasia
  Albert Anastasia
  Albert Anastasia was boss of what is now called the Gambino crime family, one of New York City's Five Families, from 1951-1957. He also ran a gang of contract killers called Murder Inc. which enforced the decisions of the Commission, the ruling council of the American Mafia...
  
   moves to Palisades Park, New Jersey
  Palisades Park, New Jersey
  Palisades Park is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 19,622....
  
  , where he becomes an associate of Joe Adonis
  Joe Adonis
  Joe Adonis , also known as "Joey A", "Joe Adone", "Joe Arosa", "James Arosa", and "Joe DiMeo", was a New York mobster who was an important participant in the formation of the modern Cosa Nostra crime families.-Early years:Adonis was born Giuseppe Antonio Doto in the small town of Montemarano,...
  
   and meets regularly with other New Jersey organized crime figures such as Anthony "Tony Bender" Strollo
  Anthony Strollo
  Anthony C. Strollo , aka "Tony Bender", was a New York mobster who served as a high ranking member of the Genovese crime family.-Early years:...
  
   and the Moretti brothers.
• Jacob "Gurrah" Shapiro
  Jacob Shapiro
  Jacob "Gurrah" Shapiro was a New York mobster who, with his partner Louis "Lepke" Buchalter, controlled industrial labor racketeering in New York for two decades and established the Murder, Inc. organization.-Early years:...
  
   dies in prison while serving a life sentence. Shapiro had been a leader of the Murder Inc. organization in New York.
• Carl Shelton, co-founder of the Prohibition
  Prohibition
  Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
  
  -era Shelton Gang, is murdered by former gang member Frank "Buster" Wortman
  Frank Wortman
  Frank L. "Buster" Wortman was a St. Louis-area bootlegger, gambler and a former member of the Shelton Brothers Gang during Prohibition. Wortman would eventually succeed the Sheltons and take over St. Louis's gambling operations in southwest Illinois until his death.-Early life:The son of an East St...
  
  .
• Edwin Rogers Lowenstein, supported by Cleveland mobsters Moe Dalitz
  Moe Dalitz
  Morris Barney "Moe" Dalitz was a Jewish American bootlegger, racketeer, casino owner and philanthropist who was one of the major figures who helped shape Las Vegas, Nevada in the 20th century. He was often referred to as Mr...
  
   and Morris Kleinman, establishes bookmaking operations under E.R. Lowe & Co. with Harold Fischer
  Harold Fischer
  Col. Harold E. Fischer, Jr. was a United States Air Force fighter pilot.Fischer saw action in the Korean War, shooting down eleven MiG aircraft in his more than 175 missions in the conflict...
  
   and Fred Kreisler in Tucson, Arizona
  Tucson, Arizona
  Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
  
   and Albuquerque, New Mexico
  Albuquerque, New Mexico
  Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...
  
   This becomes one of the earliest syndicate criminal activities in the Southwestern United States
  Southwestern United States
  The Southwestern United States is a region defined in different ways by different sources. Broad definitions include nearly a quarter of the United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah...
  
   and is eventually known as the "Tucson Front". The Tucson Front would later include front businesses such as the hotel chain run by George Gordon.
• January 8 - Andy Hintz, a New York stevedore and local waterfront hiring boss, is shot six times and severely wounded by three unidentified men while leaving his Greenwich Village
  Greenwich Village
  Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
  
   apartment. Hintz survives the shooting and identifies his assailants as longshoreman John M. "Cockeye" Dunn
  John M. Dunn
  John M. "Cockeye" Dunn was a New York mobster involved in the numbers racket and labor racketeering as a top enforcer for his brother-in-law Eddie McGrath...
  
  , Andrew "Squint" Sheridan
  Andrew Sheridan
  Andrew Sheridan is an English rugby union player and musician, who plays loosehead prop for Sale Sharks.Sheridan is tall, which is unusually tall for a prop, and weighs...
  
   and Danny Gentile. On January 29, Hintz would finally die from his wounds.
• January 25 - Al Capone
  Al Capone
  Alphonse 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...
  
   dies of a cerebral hemorrhage in his Miami, Florida
  Miami, Florida
  Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
  
   estate as a result of advanced syphilis
  Syphilis
  Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the spirochete bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum. The primary route of transmission is through sexual contact; however, it may also be transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy or at birth, resulting in congenital syphilis...
  
  .
• February 22 - U.S. mob boss Charles "Lucky" Luciano is arrested by Cuban authorities under pressure from the United States Government. Deported to Italy after World War II, Luciano had become a Cuban resident October 1946. While in Cuba, Luciano was reportedly in contact with high ranking U.S. organized crime figures including Vito Genovese
  Vito Genovese
  Vito "Don Vito" Genovese was an Italian mafioso who rose to power in America during the Castellammarese War to later become leader of the Genovese crime family. Genovese served as mentor to future mob boss Vincent "The Chin" Gigante...
  
  , Frank Costello
  Frank Costello
  Frank 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...
  
  , Albert Anastasia, Tony Accardo
  Tony Accardo
  Antonino Joseph Accardo , also known as "Joe Batters" or "Big Tuna", rose from small-time hoodlum to the position of day-to-day boss of the Chicago Outfit in 1947, to ultimately become the final Outfit authority in 1972, until his death...
  
  , Carlos Marcello and Meyer Lansky
  Meyer Lansky
  Meyer Lansky , known as the "Mob's Accountant", was a Polish-born American organized crime figure who, along with his associate Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was instrumental in the development of the "National Crime Syndicate" in the United States...
  
  . On March 20, Cuba would deport Luciano back to Italy.
• May 1 – At the labour parade in Portella della Ginestra, Sicily, 11 people are killed and over thirty are wounded. The attack would later be attributed to Salvatore Giuliano
  Salvatore Giuliano
  Salvatore Giuliano was a Sicilian peasant. It has been suggested that the subjugated social status of his class led him to become a bandit and separatist. He was mythologised during his life and after his death...
  
  , the Sicilian bandit and separatist leader. Mafia leaders like Calogero Vizzini
  Calogero Vizzini
  Calogero Don Calò Vizzini was a historical Mafia boss of Villalba in the Province of Caltanissetta, Sicily. Vizzini was considered to be one of the most influential and legendary Mafia bosses of Sicily after World War II until his death in 1954...
  
   had initially supported Guiliano and his separatist movement. However, when it became clear that Sicily would never achieve independence, Vizzini changed sides and joined the Italian Christian Democrat (DC – Democrazia Cristiana) party . Bernardo Mattarella
  Bernardo Mattarella
  Bernardo Mattarella was an Italian politician for the Christian Democrat party . He has been Minister of Italy several times...
  
  , one of the party’s leaders, had welcomed Vizzini in a 1945 article in the Catholic newspaper Il Popolo. Vizzini’s support for the DC would never be a secret. During the crucial 1948 elections that would decide Italy’s post-war future, Vizzini and Mafia boss Giuseppe Genco Russo
  Giuseppe Genco Russo
  Giuseppe Genco Russo was an Italian mafioso, the boss of Mussomeli in the Province of Caltanissetta, Sicily....
  
   would share a table with leading DC politicians attending an electoral lunch. In 1950, Vizzini would allegedly help Italian police capture and kill Giuliano.
• May 5 - The "Black Diamond Meeting" is held in New Orleans to name a successor to "Silver Dollar" Sam Carolla, who would soon be deported from the United States. Attendees include Carolla Underboss Frank Todaro
  Frank Todaro
  Francesco Todaro was an Italian-American mobster and onetime boss of the New Orleans crime family. Todaro briefly succeeded Corrado Giacona upon his death on July 25, 1944....
  
  ; Capos Thomas Rizzuto, Nick Grifazzi, Joseph Capro and Frank Lombardino; Carolla's son Anthony Carolla, and Carlos Marcello. During this meeting, Carolla passes his leadership role to Todaro. However, by 1950 Underboss Carlos Marcello
  Carlos Marcello
  Carlos "The Little Man" Marcello was a Sicilian-American mafioso who became the boss of the New Orleans crime family during the 1940s and held this position for the next 30 years.-Early life:...
  
   would control organized crime in New Orleans.
• May 7/9 - Nicholas DeJohn, a Chicago mobster and San Francisco crime leader, is found strangled to death in the trunk of a car in San Francisco. Leonard Calamia, a syndicate gunman and known drug trafficker, is charged with his murder, but is later acquitted.
• June 20 - Mobster Benjamin Siegel is killed by an unidentified gunman at the Beverly Hills, California
  Beverly Hills, California
  Beverly Hills is an affluent city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a population of 34,109 at the 2010 census, up from 33,784 as of the 2000 census, it is home to numerous Hollywood celebrities. Beverly Hills and the neighboring city of West Hollywood are together...
  
   home of girlfriend Virginia Hill
  Virginia Hill
  Virginia Hill was a Chicago Outfit courier who was famous for being the girlfriend of Genovese crime family mobster Bugsy Siegel, following the breakdown of his marriage.- The Kefauver hearings :...
  
  . Siegal had built The Flamingo hotel and casino in Las Vegas using millions of dollars in Mafia money.
• September 20 - New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, a major opponent of organized crime
  Organized crime
  Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
  
  , dies of cancer.

Arts and literature

• The Gangster (film) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039410/ starring Barry Sullivan
  Barry Sullivan (actor)
  Barry Sullivan was an American movie actor who appeared in over 100 movies from the 1930s to the 1980s.Born in New York City, Sullivan fell into acting when in college playing semi-pro football...
  
  .

Births

• September 5 - Kiyoshi Takayama
  Kiyoshi Takayama
  is a yakuza, the founding head of the Nagoya-based Takayama-gumi, the president of the 2nd Kodo-kai, and the number-two boss of the 6th Yamaguchi-gumi, the largest known yakuza syndicate in Japan....
  
  , a prominent yakuza
  Yakuza
  , also known as , are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" , "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously...
  
   related to the Kodo-kai
  Kodo-kai
  The Kodo-kai is a yakuza criminal organization based in Nagoya, Japan. It is a secondary organization of the Sixth Yamaguchi-gumi, the largest known yakuza syndicate in Japan...
  
   and its parent syndicate, the Yamaguchi-gumi
  Yamaguchi-gumi
  is 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....
  
  
• September 22 - Salvatore Vitale
  Salvatore Vitale
  Salvatore "Good Looking Sal" Vitale was a New York City caterer and former underboss of the Bonanno crime family of La Cosa Nostra before becoming a government informant.-Biography:...
  
   "Good Looking Sal", Bonanno crime family
  Bonanno crime family
  The Bonanno 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 ....
  
   member
• Domenico Cefalu
  Domenico Cefalu
  Domenico "Italian Dom" Cefalu, also known as Greaseball and Dom from 18th Avenue is the boss of the Gambino crime family and leader of the organization's Sicilian faction....
  
   "Italian Dom", Gambino crime family
  Gambino crime family
  The 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...
  
   underboss

Deaths

• Jacob Shapiro
  Jacob Shapiro
  Jacob "Gurrah" Shapiro was a New York mobster who, with his partner Louis "Lepke" Buchalter, controlled industrial labor racketeering in New York for two decades and established the Murder, Inc. organization.-Early years:...
  
   "Gurrah", New York mobster and labor racketeer
• 25 January - Al Capone
  Al Capone
  Alphonse 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...
  
   "Scarface", Chicago Outfit
  Chicago Outfit
  The 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...
  
   leader
• May 9 - Nicholas DeJohn, San Francisco crime leader and Chicago Outfit member
• 20 June - Benjamin "Bugsy Siegel
  Bugsy Siegel
  Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel was an American gangster who was involved with the Genovese crime family...
  
  , New York mobster, Las Vegas casino manager, and member of the National Crime Syndicate
  National Crime Syndicate
  The National Crime Syndicate was the name given by the press to a loosely-organized multi-ethnic organized crime syndicate. Its origins are uncertain....
  
  
• September 20 - Fiorello La Guardia, Mayor of New York