24 Things You Ought To Understand About Las Vegas and the Nearby Strip

Exactly what occurs in Vegas ... well, you understand the rest. But here are 24 facts about Sin City you likely have not heard.

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

2. One tourist attraction that is within Las Vegas city limitations: Vegas Vic, the extra-large neon cowboy that presides over downtown's well known Fremont Street. It's the largest mechanical neon indication 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 greatest hotels.

5. There's so much property for tourists to make the most of, it would take an individual 288 years to invest a night in every hotel room in the city.

6. There's a secret city underneath the city. Miles of tunnels-- originally constructed to secure the desert town from flash floods-- house hundreds of homeless locals.

7. The strip's Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel and Gambling establishment got its name from creator-- and famous mobster-- Bugsy Siegel's girlfriend. Actress 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 forced to go into and leave the venues in which they were performing through back entrances and side entranceways. In 1952, acting legend Sammy Davis Jr. took a dip in the whites-only swimming pool at the New Frontier Hotel & Casino. Later on, the supervisor had it drained pipes.

9. In May 1955, the Moulin Rouge made history when it became the city's first interracial casino. Legendary boxer Joe Louis, a part owner, stated, "This isn't really the opening of a Las Vegas hotel. It's history."

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

Legendary recluse Howard Hughes inspected 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-- three 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 provided the company enough cash to remain afloat.

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

Nevada law mentions that video slot makers should pay back a minimum of 75 percent of the cash deposited on average. (Though it's worth noting that in New Jersey, home to gambling capital Atlantic City, it's 83 percent.).

15. It takes approximately 10 minutes to catch a marital relationship license at the bureau in downtown Las Vegas, which is open every day from 8 a.m. up until midnight. No surprise some 10,000 couples wed in the city monthly.

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

17. The half-scale design of the Eiffel Tower, situated outside Paris Las Vegas, was initially planned to be full-size, but due to the close proximity of the airport-- simply 3 miles-- it had actually to be shrunk down. On the other hand, the Luxor Las Vegas' Sphinx is really larger than the original Excellent Sphinx of Giza.

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

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

20. There are see here 3933 guest rooms at Bellagio Las Vegas-- more than the number of homeowners in the city of Bellagio, Italy.

21. Not into gambling establishments? The city also features a heavy devices play ground where building enthusiasts can drive around bulldozers for fun.

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

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

24. From deep space, the Las Vegas Strip appears as the brightest area on Earth. Who cares if it's not really in Las Vegas?


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

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

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