Knowra Johnny Torrio Johnny Torrio Johnny Torrio was an Italian-American gangster who helped establish the Chicago Outfit and mentored Al Capone. He organized bootlegging and other criminal enterprises in Chicago during Prohibition.
Al Capone : Al Capone was a Chicago organized-crime boss who led the Chicago Outfit during Prohibition. Torrio mentored Capone and transferred leadership of the Chicago Outfit to him.
Chicago Outfit : The Chicago Outfit is a criminal organization that emerged from Chicago’s South Side underworld. Torrio helped shape the group that became known as the Chicago Outfit.
Orsara di Puglia : Orsara di Puglia is a town in Apulia, Italy, associated with Johnny Torrio’s birthplace. Torrio was born there before emigrating to the United States as a child.
Saint Valentine's Day Massacre : The Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre was the 1929 killing of seven men associated with Chicago’s North Side Gang. The massacre reflected the violent criminal order that persisted after Torrio left Chicago.
Big Jim Colosimo : Big Jim Colosimo was a Chicago crime boss whose enterprises became the foundation of the Chicago Outfit. Torrio worked for Colosimo before taking control of his organization.
Prohibition in the United States : Prohibition was the nationwide constitutional ban on producing, importing, transporting, and selling alcoholic beverages from 1920 to 1933. The alcohol ban created the illicit market that made Torrio’s organization profitable.
Italian immigration to the United States : Italian immigration to the United States was a major migration, especially from southern Italy, from the late nineteenth century onward. Torrio’s family migration placed his early life within this larger movement.
Castellammarese War : The Castellammarese War was a 1930–1931 conflict among New York Mafia factions that ended with a reorganization of the American Mafia. In later years Torrio advised younger gangsters during the upheaval in New York’s underworld.
Frankie Yale : Frankie Yale was a Brooklyn gangster who led the Unione Siciliana and had ties to Al Capone. Yale was Torrio’s associate and a connection between Chicago and Brooklyn underworld networks.
Bootlegging : Bootlegging is the illegal production, transport, or sale of goods, especially alcohol during Prohibition. Torrio organized large-scale illegal alcohol sales as a central source of revenue.
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