The birth of the mob and everything since.
Talking to us won’t make you a rat. Share your story with us and it could end up on our Timeline.
We welcome contributions to the timeline in the form of a story or photo. Please note: Once contributions are submitted, they will be reviewed by The Mob Museum before being posted.
March 16, 1909
President Theodore Roosevelt establishes the U.S. Bureau of Investigation, predecessor to the FBI.
March 12, 1909
New York Police Department Lieutenant Joseph Petrosino is murdered in Palermo, Italy, while investigating Sicilian Mafia ties to New York.
January 17, 1899
Future Chicago Mob boss Al Capone is born in Brooklyn, New York.
November 14, 1896
Charles “Lucky” Luciano, future architect of the Mafia’s national crime syndicate, is born in Sicily, Italy.
March 14, 1891
Following the acquittal or hung juries in the murder trial of nine suspected “Black Hand” Mafia members in New Orleans, a lynch mob attacks a city jail and hangs 11 of 17 suspected Mafia members still being held there.
October 15, 1890
New Orleans Police Chief David Hennessy is killed by suspected members of the “Black Hand” Mafia. His murder spurs ethnic unrest and violence targeting Italian immigrants.
