Al Capone was an American gangster who attained fame during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the Chicago Outfit. He was born in 1899 in Brooklyn, New York and died in 1947 in Palm Island, Florida. As a young man, he was a member of gangs in New York and had to quit school at age 14 after hitting a teacher. In 1919, he moved to Chicago where he took over illegal alcohol distribution and prostitution rings, gaining significant control over criminal activities in the city during Prohibition. By the 1920s, Al Capone had become one of the most prominent and powerful gangsters in Chicago as one of the largest owners of illegal bars during Prohibition.