1961-1990s “As a boy in Chicago, [he] learned to cook standing on a milk crate in his mom’s kitchen, where Mrs. Capone — Scarface Al’s mom — would join them,” reported the Las Vegas Review-Journal (May 8, 2009). That youngster was Joseph D. Pignatello. Once an adult, the nascent chef prepared meals for his boss,…
1967 & 1970 Apparently, the beloved crooner Frank Sinatra, Sr. had a temper, which he sometimes unleashed when casino operators denied him additional, excessive amounts of credit when gambling. In one instance when Sinatra lost control, he wound up losing two front teeth. That was in 1967, when he provoked a fight with Carl Cohen,…
1931-1965 Nevada’s early gambling industry was “wrapped in a segregated White Curtain” (Reno Gazette-Journal, Feb. 27, 2008). Between 1931, when Nevada legalized gambling, and 1965, African Americans were banned from gambling or even being present in the Silver State’s Caucasian-owned casinos, for fear their presence would scare away white patrons. Typically, any black person who…