Charles "Lucky" Luciano (pronounced /luːtʃˈɑːnɵ/;[1] born Salvatore Lucania[2] November 24, 1897 -- January 26, 1962), was an Italian-born, naturalized American mobster. Luciano is considered the father of modern organized crime in the United States for splitting New York City into five different Mafia crime families and the establishment of the first Commission. He was the first official boss of the modern Genovese crime family. He was, along with his associate Meyer Lansky, instrumental in the development of the National Crime Syndicate in the United States. Salvatore Lucanio was born on November 24, 1897 in Lercara Friddi, Sicily.[3][4] Luciano's parents, Antonio and Rosalia Lucania, had four other children: Bartolomeo (born 1890), Giuseppe (born 1898), Filippia (born 1901), and Concetta. Luciano's father worked in a sulfur mine in Sicily.[5] When Luciano was 10 years old (1907), the family immigrated to the United States.[6][7] They settled in New York City in the borough of Manhattan on its Lower East Side, a popular destination for Italian immigrants.[8] At age 14, Luciano dropped out of school and started working as a shipping clerk, earning $5 per week. However, after winning $244 in a dice game, Luciano quit his job and went to earning money on the street.[5] That same year, Luciano's parents sent him to the Brooklyn Truant School.[9] While a teenager, Luciano started his own gang. Unlike other street gangs whose business was petty crime, Luciano offered ...