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Alphonso Caponi was born on January 17, 1899 to Italian immigrants in Brooklyn, New York. As a child he was taught that the main purpose of life was to become wealthy, as most children of immigrants were taught. As a child, Capone was a stocky child with a stout nose and a large body. This made other children fear him. As he discovered, his family background made it very difficult to succeed in school. He was discriminated against because of his ethnicity. Disillusioned by the gap between the American dream and his own reality, Capone became involved in illegal activities, as a way to succeed in life. Capone was a natural leader, and he had a strong business sense. This gained him faithfulness of those who worked for him, because he praised people for a job well done. He encouraged confidence through his sound judgments, negotiation, and “the diamond-hard-nerves of a gambler.” Capone dropped-out of school at the age of 14. He was married at the age of 15. He spent the next ten years with the street gangs of his Brookl