24 Things You Need To Know About Las Vegas and the Nearby Strip

Exactly what happens in Vegas ... well, you know the rest. However here are 24 truths about Sin City you likely have not heard.

1. The majority of Vegas' iconic hotels aren't technically situated in the city of Las Vegas. An excellent part of the Las Vegas Strip-- and the famed "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign-- are actually located in an unincorporated area called Paradise, Nevada.

2. One destination that is within Las Vegas city limits: Vegas Vic, the large neon cowboy that administers over downtown's renowned Fremont Street. It's the biggest mechanical neon sign in the world.

3. More than 41 million visitors cycle through Sin City each year ...

4. ... So it's an advantage the town boasts 14 of the world's 20 most significant hotels.

5. There's a lot property for tourists to take advantage of, it would take a person 288 years to invest a night in every hotel space in the city.

6. There's a secret city below the city. Miles of tunnels-- originally built to safeguard the desert town from flash floods-- home numerous homeless homeowners.

7. The strip's Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel and Casino got its name from founder-- and legendary mobster-- Bugsy Siegel's sweetheart. Starlet Virginia Hill passed the label "The Flamingo" because of her red hair and long, thin legs.

8. In the mid-20th century, Las Vegas possessed its own set of prejudiced Jim Crow laws, which-- with the exception of low-wage service tasks-- kept African Americans from the growing city's casinos and hotels. Even legendary performers like Louis Armstrong and Nat King Cole were required to get in and leave the places in which they were performing through back doors and side entrances. In 1952, acting legend Sammy Davis Jr. swam in the whites-only swimming pool at the New Frontier Hotel & Casino. Afterwards, the manager had it drained.

In May 1955, the Moulin Rouge made history when it ended up being the city's very first interracial gambling establishment. Famous boxer Joe Louis, a part owner, declared, "This isn't the opening of a Las Vegas hotel.

10. In the 1950s and early 1960s, Las Vegas was known for putting on a various type of show. At the Nevada Test Site, just 65 miles northwest of the city, the United States Department of Energy would check nuclear gadgets. Las Vegas' Chamber of Commerce saw a moneymaking chance, and chose to distribute calendars advertising detonation times and choice viewing places.

Famous recluse Howard Hughes checked into the strip's Desert Inn on Thanksgiving Day 1966, renting the entire top two floors. When he overstayed his 10-day reservation, he was asked to leave.

12. FedEx founder Frederick W. Smith saved the delivery company with a trip to Vegas. In 1974-- 3 years after he developed the business-- the Yale graduate took the endeavor's last $5,000 and turned it into $32,000 with a weekend of blackjack. His, er, gamble offered the business enough money to remain afloat.

13. Do not interrupt: Vegas has more unlisted contact number than other city in the United States.

14. Factor to hope? Nevada law mentions that video slots need to repay a minimum of 75 percent of the cash transferred usually. (Though it deserves keeping in mind that in New Jersey, the home of betting capital Atlantic City, it's 83 percent.).

15. It takes roughly 10 minutes to nab a marriage license at the bureau in downtown Las Vegas, which is open every day from 8 a.m. until midnight. No surprise some 10,000 couples wed in the city each month.

16. Let them eat ... shrimp cocktails? More than 60,000 pounds of the shellfish are consumed in the city each day. That's higher than the rest of the country-- combined.

17. The half-scale design of the Eiffel Tower, situated outside Paris Las Vegas, was initially prepared to be full-size, however due to the close distance of the airport-- simply 3 miles-- it had actually to be diminished down. In contrast, the Luxor Las Vegas' Sphinx is really larger than the original Terrific Sphinx of Giza.

18. At 50 heaps, the bronze lion outside the MGM Grand Hotel is thought to be the biggest bronze sculpture in the western hemisphere.

19. The distinct gold color of the windows at the Mirage Hotel originates from real gold dust.

20. There are 3933 guest spaces at Bellagio Las Vegas-- more than the variety of locals in the city of Bellagio, Italy.

21. Not into casinos? The city also features a heavy equipment playground where construction enthusiasts can drive around bulldozers for fun.

22. Prior to his death in 2009, Michael Jackson was checking out doing a Vegas residency. He prepared to market it with a 50-foot robot-likeness of himself that would stroll the Nevada desert.

At Vegas restaurant Heart Attack Grill, waitresses gown in nurses garb and clients can purchase an 8000-calorie quadruple bypass hamburger with a side of flatliner french fries. In 2013, one of the spot's routine customers passed away ... from an apparent heart attack.

24. From outer space, the Las Vegas Strip looks like the brightest spot on Earth. Who cares if it's not actually in Las find more info Vegas?


Many of Vegas' renowned hotels aren't technically located in the city of Las Vegas. A great portion of the Las Vegas Strip-- and the renowned "Invite to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign-- are in fact situated in an unincorporated township called Paradise, Nevada.

One destination that is within Las Vegas city limitations: Vegas Vic, the oversized neon cowboy that presides over downtown's renowned Fremont Street. The strip's Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel and Casino got its name from creator-- and legendary mobster-- Bugsy Siegel's sweetheart. In the mid-20th century, Las Vegas possessed its own set of discriminatory Jim Crow laws, which-- with the exception of low-wage service tasks-- kept African Americans out of the growing city's hotels and casinos.

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