Geraldo Rivera uncovered ‘The Mystery of Al Capone’s Vaults’ on live television 40 years ago
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 top 5 organized crime video games
In the 1980s, video arcades loaded with coin-operated gaming cabinets were a common shopping mall destination for people with quarters…
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Legendary New York tabloid’s heyday included focus on Mafia stories
Beginning in the 1970s, the New York Post’s coverage of the Mob typified tabloid journalism during organized crime’s heyday in…
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‘Scarface’ achieves cult status with Al Pacino in starring role
When Scarface premiered in 1983, starring Al Pacino as a Cuban drug trafficker in South Florida, the movie was regarded…
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Bureau of Narcotics Commissioner Harry Anslinger led America’s crusade against drugs
Harry Anslinger is best known as the first head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN), the first in the…
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Al Pacino’s new memoir ‘Sonny Boy’ charts his path to movie stardom
On the set of The Godfather, during the early days of filming, Al Pacino was worried about being fired. Francis…
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Sicilian mafioso Tommaso Buscetta broke the sacred oath of omertà 40 years ago
In April 1988, mafioso-turned-informant Tommaso Buscetta testified before the U.S. Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which was investigating the state…
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The world’s top 5 cybercrime schemes
Last year a ransomware gang took control of the networks of two major casino corporations in Las Vegas. Caesars Entertainment…
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