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

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

1. The majority of Vegas' renowned hotels aren't technically located in the city of Las Vegas. A great part of the Las Vegas Strip-- and the renowned "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign-- are really situated in an unincorporated municipality called Paradise, Nevada.

2. One attraction that is within Las Vegas city limits: Vegas Vic, the large neon cowboy that administers over downtown's renowned Fremont Street. It's the largest mechanical neon check 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 a lot real estate for tourists to make the most of, it would take an individual 288 years to invest a night in every hotel space in the city.

6. There's a secret city underneath the city. Miles of tunnels-- initially 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 went by the nickname "The Flamingo" since of her red hair and long, thin legs.

In the mid-20th century, Las Vegas had its own set of inequitable Jim Crow laws, which-- with the exception of low-wage service tasks-- kept African Americans out of the growing city's hotels and casinos. In 1952, acting legend Sammy Davis Jr. took a dip in the whites-only swimming pool at the New Frontier Hotel & Casino.

9. In May 1955, the Moulin Rouge made history when it became the city's very first interracial gambling establishment. Famous fighter Joe Louis, a part owner, stated, "This isn't the opening of a Las Vegas hotel. It's history."

10. In the 1950s and early 1960s, Las Vegas was understood for putting on a different type of show. At the Nevada Test Website, 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 chance, and decided to distribute calendars advertising detonation times and choice viewing places.

Legendary 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 booking, he was asked to leave.

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.

14. Reason to hope? Nevada law specifies that video fruit machine should pay back a minimum of 75 percent of the cash deposited typically. (Though it's worth noting that in New Jersey, the home of 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. Not surprising that 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 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, however due to the close distance of the airport-- simply three miles-- it needed to be shrunk down. In contrast, the Luxor Las Vegas' Sphinx is actually larger 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 variety of homeowners in the city of Bellagio, Italy.

21. Not into gambling establishments? The city likewise includes a heavy devices play area where building lovers can drive around bulldozers for fun.

22. Before 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 gown in nurses clothes 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 patrons passed away ... from an apparent heart attack.

24. From external area, the Las Vegas Strip looks like 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. An excellent part of the Las Vegas Strip-- and the famous "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign-- are actually located in an unincorporated municipality called Paradise, Nevada.

One destination that is within Las see it here 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 founder-- and legendary mobster-- Bugsy Siegel's sweetheart. 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.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *