Dillinger, John

Dillinger, John

▪ American gangster
born June 28, 1902, or June 22, 1903, Indianapolis, Ind., U.S.
died July 22, 1934, Chicago
 most famous of all U.S. bank robbers, whose short career of robberies and escapes from June 1933 to July 1934 won media headlines.

      Born in Indianapolis but spending his adolescence on a farm in nearby Mooresville, Dillinger joined the Navy in 1923, serving on the USS “Utah” but deserting after only a few months. In September 1924, caught in the foiled holdup of a Mooresville grocer, he served the next several years (1924–33) in Indiana state prisons. While in prison, he learned the craft of bank robbery from tough professionals and, upon parole on May 22, 1933, turned his knowledge to profit, taking (with one to four confederates) five Indiana and Ohio banks in four months and gaining his first notoriety as a daring, leaping, sharply dressed gunman.

      Captured and jailed in Ohio in September, he was rescued by five former convict pals whose own escape from Indiana State Prison he had earlier financed and plotted. Dillinger and his gang next robbed banks in Indiana and Wisconsin and fled south to Florida and then to Tucson, Ariz., where they were discovered and arrested by local police. Dillinger was extradited to Indiana and lodged in the Crown Point, Ind., jail, where on March 3, 1934, he executed his most celebrated escape. With a razor and a piece of wood, he carved a fake pistol, blackened it with bootblack, and used it to force his way past a dozen guards to freedom, singing as he left, “I'm heading for the last roundup.”

      There followed more bank robberies with new confederates; Dillinger twice barely escaped FBI entrapments and shootouts in Minnesota and Wisconsin. His end came through a trap set up by the FBI, Indiana police, and one Anna Sage, a friend and brothel madam. This well-publicized “lady in red” drew Dillinger to the Biograph Theatre in Chicago, where, on emerging, he was shot to death.

      Some researchers have claimed that another man, not Dillinger, was killed outside the Biograph and that Dillinger's allies accomplished a hoax on the FBI, leaving him free to disappear.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Dillinger,John — Dil·lin·ger (dĭlʹĭn jər), John. 1902 1934. American gangster who was declared Public Enemy Number One by the FBI in 1933 for his role in a string of bank robberies and at least three murders. He died in a gun battle with FBI agents in front of… …   Universalium

  • Dillinger, John Herbert — (1903 1934)    Notorious bank robber John Dillinger was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. He joined the U.S. Navy in 1923 but deserted, received a dishonorable discharge, and returned to Indiana. In 1924, he was jailed for robbery. He was released… …   Historical Dictionary of the Roosevelt–Truman Era

  • Dillinger, John (Herbert) — born June 28, 1902, or June 22, 1903, Indianapolis, Ind., U.S. died July 22, 1934, Chicago, Ill. U.S. bank robber. Arrested in 1924 in the foiled holdup of a grocer in Mooresville, Ind., he spent the next several years in Indiana state prisons,… …   Universalium

  • Dillinger, John (Herbert) — (28 jun. 1902, o 22 jun. 1903, Indianápolis, Ind., EE.UU.–22 jul. 1934, Chicago, Ill.). Asaltante de bancos estadounidense. Detenido en 1924 en un asalto frustrado a un almacén de Mooresville, Ind., permaneció varios años en las cárceles del… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • John Dillinger — Dillinger redirects here. For other uses, see Dillinger (disambiguation). John Dillinger B …   Wikipedia

  • John Dillinger — John Herbert Dillinger (* 22. Juni 1903 in Oak Hill, Indiana; † 22. Juli 1934 in Chicago, Illinois) war die erste Person, die vom FBI als Staatsfeind Nr. 1 bezeichnet wurde. Er und seine Bande waren auf …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • John Dillinger — Nombre Joh …   Wikipedia Español

  • John "Red" Hamilton — John « Red » Hamilton Pour les articles homonymes, voir Hamilton. John Hamilton …   Wikipédia en Français

  • John Red Hamilton — John « Red » Hamilton Pour les articles homonymes, voir Hamilton. John Hamilton …   Wikipédia en Français

  • John Dillinger — [John Dillinger] (1903–34) a US criminal who killed 16 people and robbed 20 banks in the ↑Midwest during the ↑Great Depression. The ↑FBI named him ‘Public Enemy Number One’. Although he was violent, many Americans regarded Dillinger as an… …   Useful english dictionary

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