Plan: Ali, Muhammad

Billy the Kid

There is some confusion over Billy the Kid's real name. At his trial he used the name William Bonney, but as a child he was known as Henry McCarthy.

By the age of 12, Billy the Kid was already a gambler and card player, and had knifed a man for insulting his mother. When he was just 16, he and a partner murdered three Native Americans and stole the furs they were carrying. In 1877, after more murderous exploits, he became involved in a ‘war’ between two cattle-ranching families. As leader of one of the gangs, he was in one gun battle after another. He returned to cattle thieving and murder when that ‘war’ was over.
A sheriff called Pat Garrett was determined to catch him, and he finally succeeded in 1881. Billy the Kid was sentenced to hang, but he managed to escape. Two months later, Garrett cornered him and shot him dead. Films have been made which show Billy the Kid as a hero, but in reality he was a criminal who murdered at least 21 people.

Buffalo Bill

Like many other people in the ‘Wild West’, William Cody had little schooling and could just about write his name. From the age of 11, he helped to support his family, working as a mounted messenger on wagon trains travelling to the West, and looking after livestock. These jobs helped him become a very good rider. After serving in the American Civil War (1861–1865) he made his living supplying buffalo (bison) meat to railway workers. At that time great herds of buffalo roamed the American prairies, and Cody's skill at shooting them gave him his nickname of ‘Buffalo Bill’.

Because of his riding and hunting skills, and also his knowledge of Native American ways, Buffalo Bill was in demand in the 1870s as a scout with the cavalry who were fighting the Native Americans. His skill at this and his various adventures – it is said that he killed and scalped a young chief called Yellow Hair – made him famous as a Western folk hero.
In 1872 he started appearing in stage shows about himself. Then from 1883, he started organizing his Wild West Show. This exhibition included horsemanship, shooting skills, mock battles, a buffalo hunt and lots of cowboys and Native Americans. The show featured such stars as Annie Oakley and, from 1885, Chief Sitting Bull. Buffalo Bill continued to star in this show until just two months before his death.



Capone, Al

Alphonse Capone claimed that he was born in New York but it is more likely that he was born in Italy and emigrated with his family to the USA when he was a child.

Capone turned to crime very early, and was involved in New York street gangs when he was a teenager. He was a natural leader and soon had many gangsters and hoodlums following him.
In 1919 the Congress of the United States voted to ban all sales of alcoholic drinks, and this became law the following year. This ban lasted for 13 years, and was called Prohibition. During Prohibition, many criminals made fortunes because a lot of people still wanted to drink beer and other alcoholic drinks, and only criminals could supply them. Capone operated in Chicago during this time, running various illegal schemes including the selling of alcoholic drinks. He became rich and influential through crime, and was not arrested because he bribed many policemen and other officials. He was very brutal and was involved in the murder of seven members of a rival gang in what became known as the St Valentine's Day massacre.
Eventually, in 1932, Capone went to prison for not paying taxes. After only a few years, he came out a sick man and died while still in his forties.