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Angelo Meli
Angelo Meli (; February 10, 1897 – December 1, 1969) was an Italian-American mobster who became a consigliere and then leading Chairman of the Detroit Partnership criminal organization of La Cosa Nostra. Early life Angelo Meli was born on February 10, 1897, in San Cataldo, Sicily, the youngest son of 13 children born to Vincenzo Meli and Maria Antonia Gugaglio. Meli immigrated to the United States at the age of 17, settling in Scranton, Pennsylvania, to work as a coal miner. He worked in a Pittsburgh foundry and moved to Detroit in 1918. In Detroit, Meli worked as a baker and restaurateur. Throughout his time there, he owned a bakery, two restaurants, and the Whip Cafe, which he owned with "Black" Leo Cellura, another member of the Detroit Partnership. His brother Frank and nephew Vincent Meli, Vincent "Little Vince" Meli were members of the Detroit Partnership. In 1924, Meli married Jennie Dimercurio, and had two sons, Vincent H. and Salvatore, and two daughters, Maria A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
San Cataldo, Sicily
San Cataldo ( Sicilian: ''San Catallu'' or ''San Cataddu'') is a Sicilian town and ''comune'' in the province of Caltanissetta, in the southwestern part of the island of Sicily. Physical geography San Cataldo rises in an internal hilly area, located at 625 meters above sea level, which extends north of the town, between the municipalities of Serradifalco, Mussomeli, Caltanissetta, located within the Sicilian Solfifero plateau, an ancient area mining. It is 63 km from Agrigento, 9 km from Caltanissetta, 50 km from Enna, 150 km from Ragusa. It is crossed by a single river, the "Salito", formed by springs that arise from the slopes of Mount Schiavo near the town of Santa Caterina Villarmosa. The inhabited area extends into the plateau located between Portella del Tauro and Babbaurra, rich in partially drinkable water wells. See also *Catald Catald of Taranto (also Cataldus, Cathaluds, Cathaldus, Cat(t)aldo, Cathal; fl. 7th century) was an Irish monk. Biography Cataldus was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Times Herald
''The Times Herald'' is a daily newspaper in Port Huron, Michigan. The newspaper, owned by Gannett, is the only daily paper serving St. Clair County, Michigan as well as parts of Sanilac and Lapeer counties. ''The Times Herald'' history can be dated back to 1869 with the founding of the ''Port Huron Times''. The ''Daily Herald'', another Port Huron newspaper, was founded in 1900. The two merged and began issuing a single issue, the ''Port Huron Times Herald'', on April 4, 1910. The paper was purchased by Gannett in 1970. ''The Times Herald'' was the owner of one of Port Huron's early radio stations. In December 1947, WTTH was launched on AM 1360 and moved to AM 1380 in 1949. The call letters stood for ''The Times Herald''. ''The Times Herald'', like many community newspapers of the era, had to divest the station due to Federal Communications Commission media ownership requirements. ''The Times Herald'' sold the station to Enterform in 1967 which was then followed by a call sig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Speakeasies
A speakeasy, also called a blind pig or blind tiger, is an illicit establishment that sells alcoholic beverages, or a retro style bar that replicates aspects of historical speakeasies. Speakeasy bars came into prominence in the United States during the Prohibition era (1920–1933, longer in some states). During that time, the sale, manufacture, and transportation ( bootlegging) of alcoholic beverages was illegal throughout the United States. Speakeasies largely disappeared after Prohibition ended in 1933. The speakeasy-style trend began in 2000 with the opening of the bar Milk & Honey. Etymology The phrase "speak softly shop", meaning a "smuggler's house", appeared in a British slang dictionary published in 1823. The similar phrase "speak easy shop", denoting a place where unlicensed liquor sales were made, appeared in a British naval memoir written in 1844. The precise term "speakeasy" dates from no later than 1837 when an article in the '' Sydney Herald'' newspaper in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barricade Books
Barricade Books is an independent publishing company specializing in non-fiction titles and featuring biography, memoir, including holocaust memoirs, and true crime and Mafia titles. History The genesis for Barricade Books was Lyle Stuart Inc., founded by Lyle Stuart (1922-2006), the publisher of such titles as ''Naked Came the Stranger'', '' Ordeal'' by Linda Lovelace, and ''The Sensuous Woman'' by " J". Stuart developed a reputation for taking on controversial titles. One of the publisher's most controversial titles was ''The Anarchist Cookbook'', released in 1970, which included recipes for making bombs. In 1989, the Barricade Books imprint was established. In 1995, Barricade Books published the bestseller ''The Housekeeper's Diary'' by Wendy Berry. The violently racist anti-government novel ''The Turner Diaries'', by Andrew Macdonald, was published in 1996. A bestseller, ''Sex and the Single Girl'' by Helen Gurley Brown and originally published by Bernard Geis Associate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joseph Zerilli
Joseph Zerilli (born Giuseppe Zerilli; ; December 10, 1897 – October 30, 1977) was an Italian-born gangster who rose to power in the crime family known as the Detroit Partnership, leading from the 1930s through much of the 1970s. He immigrated to the United States from Sicily in 1914 at the age of 17. Early life Zerilli was born on December 10, 1897, in Terrasini, Sicily, to Anthony and Rosalie Zerilli. He immigrated in 1914 at age 17 to the United States, settling in Detroit along with numerous other Italian immigrants, especially many from Sicily. While working as a laborer with the Detroit Gas Company, Zerilli joined the Purple Gang, founded by brothers and Abe Bernstein and his brothers Bugs Bill, Raymond and Isadore, who had moved from New York as youths. Other founders were Harry Fleisher, and Louis Fleisher. After Michigan had prohibited liquor sales a few years before the Prohibition era started nationwide in the United States, these young men developed a street ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Unione Siciliana
The Italian-American National Union (formerly known as Unione Siciliana) was a Sicilian-American organization, which controlled much of the Italian vote within the United States during the early twentieth century. It was based in Chicago, Illinois. It was a major source of conflict during Prohibition, as underworld figures fought to control the highly influential organization through a series of puppet presidents largely controlled by the Chicago Outfit. During the 1970s, the organization was probably merged into the Italian Sons and Daughters of America. However, similar groups still exist and have much influence in Italian American communities throughout the United States. History The organization was founded in 1895 by Sicilian immigrants in Chicago. The name was changed to the Italian-American National Union in 1925 in order to attract Italian-Americans from other regions. The Union was paying out sick benefits and death benefits and had deposited $100,000 with the Illinois De ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alex Groesbeck
Alexander Joseph Groesbeck (November 7, 1873 – March 10, 1953) was an American politician who served as attorney general and the 30th governor of Michigan. Early life Groesbeck was born in Warren, Michigan, the son of Macomb County Sheriff Louis Groesbeck and his wife Julia (Coquillard) Groesbeck. Groesbeck attended the public schools of Mount Clemens, Michigan, and of Wallaceburg, Ontario, where his parents resided for two years with their family. Groesbeck wanted to become a lawyer from an early age, and undertook the study of law in the office of an attorney at Port Huron, Michigan. He went on to earn a law degree from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1893. He was admitted to the bar that year and set up practice in Detroit where he rapidly gained the "respect, goodwill and confidence of his colleagues, because of his close conformity to the highest ethical standards of the profession". Politics Groesbeck's entrance into state politics came in 1912 he led ef ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rum-running
Rum-running or bootlegging is the illegal business of smuggling alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law. Smuggling usually takes place to circumvent taxation or prohibition laws within a particular jurisdiction. The term ''rum-running'' is more commonly applied to smuggling over water; ''bootlegging'' is applied to smuggling over land. It is believed that the term ''bootlegging'' originated during the American Civil War, when soldiers would sneak liquor into army camps by concealing pint bottles within their boots or beneath their trouser legs. Also, according to the PBS documentary ''Prohibition'', the term ''bootlegging'' was popularized when thousands of city dwellers sold liquor from flasks they kept in their boot legs all across major cities and rural areas. The term ''rum-running'' was current by 1916, and was used during the Prohibition era in the United States (1920–1933), when ships from Bimini in the western Bahamas transported cheap Caribbea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brothel
A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub parlours, studios, or by some other description. Sex work in a brothel is considered safer than street prostitution. Legal status On 2 December 1949, the United Nations General Assembly approved the Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others. The Convention came into effect on 25 July 1951 and by December 2013 had been ratified by 82 states. The Convention seeks to combat prostitution, which it regards as "incompatible with the dignity and worth of the human person." Parties to the Convention agreed to abolish regulation of individual prostitutes, and to ban brothels and procuring. Some countries not parties to the convention also ban prostitution or the operation of broth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hamtramck, Michigan
Hamtramck ( ) is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 28,433. Hamtramck is surrounded by the city of Detroit except for a small portion that borders the fellow enclave city of Highland Park. Hamtramck is by far the most densely populated municipality in the state of Michigan, and the only Muslim-majority town in the United States. Known in the 20th century as a vibrant center of Polish-American life and culture, Hamtramck has attracted new immigrants in the 21st century, especially from Yemen, Bangladesh and Pakistan. In 2013, it reportedly became the first Muslim-majority city in the U.S. In 2015, Hamtramck became the first city to have a Muslim-majority city council in the history of the United States, with four of the six council members being Muslim. In November 2021, Hamtramck elected a completely Muslim-American city council and a Muslim mayor, becoming the first municipality in the United States to be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salvatore Catalanotte
Salvatore "Sam Sings in the Night" Catalanotte (born Salvatore Catalanotto; 15 February 1893 – 14 February 1930) was an Italian-American mobster. "Sings in the night" is a translation of a close misspelling of his last name (from the Italian "caNta la notte"). Catalanotte immigrated from Sicily to Detroit in 1912 and participated and survived the Giannola and Vitale gang war. After surviving this war, Catalanotte later assumed the highest leadership position within the Detroit mafia. In addition to his mafia dealings, Catalanotte was also recorded to be a baker and a director of the Detroit Italian bakeries. Catalanotte died on February 14, 1930, from pneumonia and his funeral took place in Detroit. Background and Family Birth, Marriage and Children Salvatore (Samuel, Sam) Catalanotte was born in Alcamo, Trapani, Sicily on 15 February 1893. It is unclear whether Catalanotte's full name was Salvatore or Samuel as he has Salvatore written on his immigration and Samuel crossed o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Russell Bufalino
Russell Alfred Bufalino (; born Rosario Alfredo Bufalino, ; September 29, 1903 – February 25, 1994) was an Italian-American mobster who became the crime boss of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Italian-American Mafia crime family known as the Bufalino crime family, which he ruled from 1959 to 1994. He was a cousin of attorney William Bufalino, the longtime counsel for Jimmy Hoffa. Early years Bufalino was born on September 29, 1903, in Montedoro, Sicily, to Angelo Bufalino and Cristina Buccoleri. On July 9, 1903, his father immigrated to the United States, settling in Pittston, Pennsylvania, working as a coal miner. With his mother and siblings, Bufalino entered the United States through the Port of New York in December 1903. A few months later, Bufalino's father died in a mine accident, and his family returned to Sicily. Bufalino emigrated to the United States again in January 1906. After his mother died in 1910, he returned to Sicily again. He returned to the United States in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
