24 Things You Must Know About Las Vegas and the Close-by Strip

What takes place in Vegas ... well, you understand the rest. Here are 24 realities about Sin City you likely have not heard.

1. Most of Vegas' iconic hotels aren't technically situated in the city of Las Vegas. An excellent portion of the Las Vegas Strip-- and the famous "Invite to Fabulous Las Vegas" indication-- are actually located in an unincorporated area called Paradise, Nevada.

2. One destination that is within Las Vegas city limitations: Vegas Vic, the oversized neon cowboy that commands downtown's famous Fremont Street. It's the biggest 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 most significant hotels.

5. There's a lot property for travelers to take advantage 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 developed to secure the desert town from flash floods-- home hundreds of homeless locals.

7. The strip's Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel and Casino got its name from creator-- and famous mobster-- Bugsy Siegel's sweetheart. Actress Virginia Hill went by the nickname "The Flamingo" since of her red hair and long, thin legs.

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 out of the growing city's casinos and hotels. In 1952, acting legend Sammy Davis Jr. took a dip in the whites-only swimming pool at the New Frontier Hotel & Casino.

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 the opening of a Las Vegas hotel.

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

11. Legendary recluse Howard Hughes checked out the strip's Desert Inn on Thanksgiving Day 1966, renting the entire top two floors. He was asked to leave when he overstayed his 10-day booking. Rather, he began settlements to purchase the 715-room area. His purchase was total 3 months later on.

FedEx founder Frederick W. Smith saved the delivery company with a trip to Vegas. In 1974-- three years after he created the company-- the Yale grad took the venture's last $5,000 and turned it into $32,000 with a weekend of blackjack.

13. Do not disturb: Vegas has more unlisted phone numbers than any other city in the United States.

Nevada law specifies that video slot machines must pay back a minimum of 75 percent of the money deposited on average. (Though it's worth noting that in New Jersey, home to gambling mecca 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 every month.

16. Let them consume ... shrimp mixed drinks? More than 60,000 pounds of the shellfish are consumed in the city every day. That's greater than the remainder of the nation-- integrated.

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

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

19. The distinctive gold color of the windows at the Mirage Hotel comes from actual gold dust.

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

21. Not into gambling establishments? The city likewise includes a heavy devices play ground where building and construction lovers can drive around bulldozers for enjoyable.

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

23. At Vegas diner Heart Attack Grill, waitresses dress in nurses garb and clients can buy an 8000-calorie quadruple bypass hamburger with a side of flatliner french fries. (Fried in pure lard!) In 2013, one of the area's regular customers passed away ... from an apparent heart attack.

24. From external area, the Las Vegas Strip looks like the brightest spot on Earth. Who cares if it's not in fact in Las Vegas?


Many of Vegas' iconic hotels aren't technically situated in the city of Las Vegas. A great part of the Las Vegas Strip-- have a peek here and the famed "Invite to Fabulous Las Vegas" indication-- are actually situated in an unincorporated town called Paradise, Nevada.

One attraction that is within Las Vegas city limitations: Vegas Vic, the large 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 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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