Prostitution, illegal gambling, and protection rackets: These were just a few of the dangerous businesses run by the American gangster Alphonse Gabriel “Al” Capone. The colorful mobster, sometimes known by the nickname “Scarface,” ruled the Chicago underworld in the 1920s and 30s. Born in 1899 to Italian immigrant parents in New York, Capone was one of nine children and grew up in early 20th-century Brooklyn. Expelled from school at the age of 14, he was involved with gangs in his teens, during which time he learned the things he needed for his future career in crime.