On This Day

Reading Time: Greg ‘The Grim Reaper’ Scarpa was born May 8th 1928 in Brooklyn, New York, he was the second born, his parents being Italian Immigrants. At the age of 7, Scarpa was working as a coal deliveryman alongside his father, this gave Scarpa an itch for a better life for him and his family. Greg’s older brother Sal was the first of the Scarpa family to hook up with mob associates, by the age…

Owen Vincent Madden was born in Leeds, England on December 18th 1891. Due to the fact the family wanted work, they moved first to Wigan before moving on to Liverpool, his father’s intentions were to finally move the family towards the United States, this was fulfilled in 1901. However tragedy struck the family, and Owney’s father died before he could complete his ambition. The family moved to Manhattan before finding a new home in New…

Philip Carlo Testa was born on April 21st 1924 in Mistretta, Sicily, and immigrated to New York City. Whilst in the States he befriended mob boss Angelo Bruno, who would soon become an opening into the Mafia world for Testa. It was believed that Testa’s income was solely from winnings as a common gambler, seeing himself as a statesman similar to Julius Caesar gaining him the nickname ‘The Julius Cesar of the Philadelphia Mob’. He…