Mar
03
Mar
19
May
01
On May 1, 1931, President Herbert Hoover officially dedicates New York City’s Empire State Building, pressing a button from the White House that turns on the building’s lights. Hoover’s gesture, of course, was symbolic; while the president remained in Washington, D.C., someone else flicked the switches in New York.
Al Smith, New York politician and president of Empire State Inc., doffs his hat to a replica of the Empire State Building at the dedication ceremonies, New York, New York, May 1931.
Bettmann Archive
Oct
17
On October 17, 1931, gangster Al Capone is convicted of tax evasion, signaling the downfall of one of the most notorious criminals of the 1920s and 1930s. He was later sentenced to 11 years in federal prison and fined $50,000.
Portrait of Al Capone
Bettmann Archive
Oct
18
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