The first mobster in Las Vegas: Part 2
Second of three parts The year 1928 initially looked good from Jim Ferguson’s standpoint. The “King of the Tenderloin” in…
prohibition
The first mobster in Las Vegas: Part 1
First of three parts In the 1920s and ’30s, the U.S. government considered him a “menace to society.” Nevada law…
‘A shiny mark of incorruptibility’
Good stories usually have five key elements: a likable protagonist who selflessly rises to the occasion; a malevolent antagonist seeking…
Temperance vs. individual liberty
In 1826, a century before Prohibition, Presbyterian minister Lyman Beecher wrote, “No sin has fewer apologies than intemperance.” Beecher founded…
Iconic Chicago Outfit boss Al Capone died 70 years ago today
Al “Scarface” Capone, the ruthless yet media-friendly Chicago Outfit boss during Prohibition, died of natural causes 70 years ago today,…
Al Capone gun on display at Mob Museum
A .38-caliber revolver believed to have been seized from Al Capone during a 1928 arrest in Miami is now on…
Gangster-built Golden Nugget turns 70
By the late summer of 1946, Guy McAfee was the best-known big shot in Las Vegas. McAfee, 58, had spent…
Elizebeth Friedman: The rumrunner’s worst nightmare
Last in a series of profiles for Women’s History Month. In the waning weeks of Prohibition in 1933, Elizebeth Friedman,…
Mabel Willebrandt: Prolific prosecutor of Prohibition laws
Second in a series of profiles for Women’s History Month. Mabel Walker Willebrandt, one-time public defender and tax lawyer to…
Ten legacies of Prohibition
The end of Prohibition was perhaps the biggest political reversal in American history. The passage of the 21st Amendment to…