On this day in 1931, one of the most famous gangsters of all time Al Capone
is sentenced to eleven years in Federal prison for tax evasion. He is also
fined $80,000. This is the beginning of the end for Capone and his criminal
empire, that in the 1920s and 1930s, had virtually run the city of Chicago
and its environs.

    
Cell 181 in Alcatraz where Capone was imprisoned. 
       
    

Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone (January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947)       
        .

Capone was released early from Alcatraz in 1939 for good behavior,
after spending his final year in a prison hospital, suffering from
syphilis. He died in 1947 at age 48 at his home in Palm Island,
Florida.

SANDY KOZEL

Aviator Wiley Post ended his around-the-world flight on this day in
1933. He had traveled 15,596 miles in 7 days, 18 hours,  and 49
minutes. He was the first aviator to accomplish the feat. He began
the journey on July 15, flying nonstop to Berlin.

Wiley Hardeman Post (November 22, 1898 – August 15, 1935)

The “Winnie Mae” is on display at a branch of the Smithsonian’s
National Air and Space Museum.

ROSS SIMPSON

The "St. Valentine’s Day Massacre" took place in Chicago, IL on this
day in 1929. Seven gangsters who were rivals of Al Capone were
killed.

Gangster Alphonse Gabriel Capone 
(January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947)

The section of the bullet-riddled wall as it stands today in the Mob Museum in Las Vegas.

CAMILLE
BOHANNON

More than 6,000 people were killed when a magnitude 7.2 earthquake 
hit the city of Kobe, Japan on this day in 1995. It was the most severe 
earthquake to affect that region this century. The economic loss as a result of this earthquake is estimated to reach $200 billion.

Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706 – April 17, 1790)

Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the
United States. He was a leading author, printer, political
theorist, politician, freemason, postmaster, scientist,
inventor, humorist, civic activist, statesman, and
diplomat.

Benjamin Franklin wrote under the pseudonym Mrs. Silence
Dogood, and published provocative letters. He was the first
United States Ambassador to France, where he advocated
religious tolerance.

MIKE GRACIA

On  this day in 1962, United States President Kennedy went on radio
and television to inform the United States about his order to send U.S.forces to blockade Cuba. The blockade was in response to the discovery of Soviet missile bases on the island.

On this day in 1979, the ousted Shah of Iran, Mohammad Riza
Pahlavi was allowed into the U.S. for, what was called, life-
saving medical treatment, a decision made by then President
Jimmy Carter. This was one of the most controversial decisions
of post-World War Two foreign policy.

President Carter (left) raising a toast to the ousted Shah of Iran.

Admitting the deposed Shah of Iran to the U.S.triggered the Iranian hostage crisis, effecting American-Iranian relations.

A man holds a sign during a protest of the crisis in Washington, D.C..