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Geraldo Rivera uncovered ‘The Mystery of Al Capone’s Vaults’ on live television 40 years ago

Geraldo Rivera poses on the stairs heading down to the Lexington Hotel’s basement, where Al Capone supposedly kept a hidden vault. Forty years ago, millions of Americans tuned in to watch Rivera’s two-hour live television special revealing the contents of the “vault.” Steve Kagan / Getty Images
April 24, 2026

On April 21, 1986, television reporter Geraldo Rivera completed his final on-air shot in a live broadcast from the Chicago hotel where Prohibition-era Mob boss Al Capone supposedly had an underground vault. With 30 million viewers watching, the vault contained not much more than a couple of decades-old bottles and a cloud of dust. Afterward, sensing that critics would pounce, Rivera went on a bender, convinced his career was over. “He said he got tequila drunk across the street,” William Elliott Hazelgrove told The Mob Museum. Hazelgrove is the author of the newly released book, Capone’s Vault: The Real Story of the Biggest ...

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The mystery of Lucky Luciano’s ‘invaluable service’ to the country

Seventy-five years ago, Charles Luciano caught a Lucky break . . . sort of. Following several years of negotiations (and…

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Geri Rosenthal’s ‘life on the edge’

In September 1980, during an argument with her husband, Geri Rosenthal waved a gun around outside their house in the…

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The biggest Mafia sweep in American history

The morning of January 20, 2011, was a particularly early one for many in law enforcement. Before dawn, more than…

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Alternative Products Prohibition

Ten alternative products made by breweries during Prohibition

American businesses have become adept at producing alternative products during the global Covid-19 pandemic. Distilleries have been producing hand sanitizer…

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Phyllis McGuire, singing star and Sam Giancana paramour, dies at age 89

Phyllis McGuire, the last of the popular McGuire Sisters singing trio and onetime girlfriend of Chicago Outfit boss Sam Giancana,…

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Big Mob trouble in the Big Easy

Organized crime’s influence in New Orleans is at the center of a legal drama airing on Showtime through January. Titled…

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Re-edited ‘Godfather: Part III’ wins applause

Francis Ford Coppola’s re-edit of The Godfather: Part III is receiving praise from critics who say the changes have streamlined…

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