On this day, Oct. 17 …

1931: Mobster Al Capone is convicted in Chicago of income tax evasion. (Capone would be sentenced to 11 years in prison but released in 1939.)

Also on this day:

1777: British forces under Gen. John Burgoyne surrender to American troops in Saratoga, N.Y., in a turning point of the Revolutionary War.

British forces under Gen. John Burgoyne surrender to American troops in Saratoga, N.Y., in a turning point of the Revolutionary War. 1907: Guglielmo Marconi begins offering limited commercial wireless telegraph service between Nova Scotia and Ireland.