The oldest known gangster is likely John "Sonny" Franzese, a Colombo crime family mobster who lived to be 103 years old, dying in 2020 after a long life involved with the Mafia, becoming the oldest Mafiosi ever imprisoned before his release at age 100 in 2017. While others lived long lives (like British mobster Bert Rossi at 94), Franzese holds the record for longevity as a major figure in organized crime, known as one of the deadliest and longest-living mobsters.
The five major families of organized crime still exist in New York today, and the families continue to operate in illegal business practices similar to those they have engaged in since their creation. The practices of the families include extortion, gambling, loan sharking, and racketeering.
Tony Soprano isn't based on one single person but is a composite, heavily inspired by real-life New Jersey mobsters, particularly Vincent "Vinny Ocean" Palermo of the DeCavalcante crime family, and also drawing from figures like Ruggiero "Richie the Boot" Boiardo. Palermo shares many traits, including owning a strip club (Bada Bing! vs. Wiggles), being a de facto boss, marrying into the family, and eventually becoming an informant. Show creator David Chase also drew from his own upbringing around mob figures, like the Boiardos.
Al Capone (kah-POHN) was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Gabriele and Teresina Capone, recent immigrants from southern Italy. The Capones emigrated to the United States in 1895 with their two-year-old son Vincenzo and infant son Raffaele, while Teresina was pregnant with her third child, Salvatore.
Guzmán's leadership of the cartel also brought immense wealth and power; Forbes ranked him as one of the most powerful people in the world between 2009 and 2013, while the Drug Enforcement Administration estimated that he matched the influence and wealth of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar.
The antibiotic penicillin is renowned as the "Queen of Medicines." Penicillins (P, PCN, or PEN) are antibiotics that were first discovered in Penicillium moulds, particularly P.
Earl J. "Hymie" Weiss (born Henryk Wojciechowski; January 25, 1898 – October 11, 1926), was a Polish-American mob boss who became a leader of the Prohibition-era North Side Gang and a bitter rival of Al Capone. He was known as "the only man Al Capone feared".
While the Mafia - also known as La Cosa Nostra - may no longer possess the robust national presence and influence it once had, it remains a significant threat in the New York metropolitan area, New England, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Detroit.
A crime boss, also known as a crime lord, Don, mob boss, kingpin, or godfather, is the leader of a criminal organization.
A woman who's the companion or conspirator to a gangster can be called a moll. One of the most famous molls was Bonnie Parker, of the criminal duo Bonnie and Clyde.
Matteo Messina Denaro, the “last godfather” of the Sicilian mafia who was accused of orchestrating some of the most heinous crimes perpetrated by the Cosa Nostra, has died after a long illness.
Mickey Spillane (mobster)
All of the drugs on this list had a immense impact on the evolution of medicine and the evolution of mankind.
Common slang terms for MDMA (ecstasy) include the 'love drug', 'E', 'eckies', 'pingers' and 'caps'. MDMA is usually swallowed as a tablet but can come in powder form.
Aspirin, The 5000 Year-Old Wonder Drug. Aspirin has many uses, from fever and pain relief to prevention of cardiovascular disease and cancer.
Reality. During his reign running the world's biggest drug cartel, Pablo Escobar amassed an estimated multimillion dollar fortune... and then he buried much of it all over Colombia. It's believed the majority of the money is still underground, and two former CIA operatives embark on a mission to find it.
Griselda: Colombian 'Cocaine Godmother' given Hollywood makeover by Sofia Vergara. "The only man I was ever afraid of was a woman named Griselda Blanco." This is what infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar allegedly once said about the person who created one of the most profitable cartels in history.
Pablo Escobar was ultimately taken down by Colombian Special Forces (Search Bloc) who tracked and killed him in Medellín on December 2, 1993, but the extensive manhunt involved significant efforts from U.S. DEA agents like Steve Murphy and Javier Peña, and pressure from rival groups like Los Pepes, a vigilante group of Escobar's enemies, all working to dismantle his Medellín Cartel.
(6) Despite being a wildly successful organized crime boss, Al Capone only had an IQ of 95. (7) He spent the last years of his life in his Florida mansion raving about Communists, foreigners, and Bugs Moran, who he was convinced was plotting to kill him.
Charles Dean “Dion” O'Banion (1892-1924), Irish- American Chicago gangster and boss of the North Side Gang during the 1920s; he was the main rival of the South Side Gang, which included Johnny Torrio and Al Capone; O'Banion operated his racket, namely bootlegging, out of his flower shop, which was ironically located ...
When the vault was opened, it contained only dirt and empty bottles, including one Rivera claimed was for moonshine bathtub gin. After several attempts to dig further into the vault, Rivera admitted defeat and voiced his disappointment to the viewers, apologizing as he thanked the excavation team for their efforts.