Today in History: October 17, 2022

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October 17, 1931 was the date American gangster Al Capone was convicted of tax evasion after a trial.

Shortly after, he was sentenced to 11 years in Federal Prison, fined $50,000 and charged $7,692 for court costs in addition to $215,000 plus interest due on back taxes.

The six-month contempt of court sentence was to be served concurrently.

October 17, 1989 saw the deadliest United States earthquake since 1906 shaking the San Francisco Bay Area, killing 67 people.

The 6.9 magnitude earthquake causing more than $5 billion in damages.

A collapsed portion of the Oakland Bay Bridge is shown following the earthquake.

In 2009, Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed held the first underwater cabinet meeting in bid to raise awareness over rising sea levels due to climate change.

Nasheed was seen swimming to the meeting in a symbolic cry for help over rising sea levels threaten the tropical archipelago’s existence.

In 2018, Canada became the first developed nation to legalize use of recreational marijuana. It has since also passed a law allowing citizens with a criminal record for marijuana possession to be pardoned quickly and without cost.

On this day in 1979, Mother Teresa, founder of a Roman Catholic order of women dedicated to the poor and particularly to the destitute of India, was named the recipient of that year’s Nobel Prize for Peace.

In a 1991 video, Mother Teresa receives the Indira Gandhi gold plaque for her contribution to international understanding and peace.

She is credited as the founder of the missionaries for charity order in 1940 to help the poor and homeless and later developed the order into a worldwide charity, stepping down as its head in 1990, at the age of 79.