24 Things You Must Know About Las Vegas and the Nearby Strip

Exactly what occurs in Vegas ... well, you understand the rest. Here are 24 facts about Sin City you likely haven't heard.

1. The majority of Vegas' renowned hotels aren't technically located in the city of Las Vegas. An excellent part of the Las Vegas Strip-- and the well known "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" indication-- are actually situated in an unincorporated municipality called Paradise, Nevada.

2. One attraction that is within Las Vegas city limitations: Vegas Vic, the extra-large neon cowboy that presides over downtown's famous Fremont Street. It's the largest mechanical neon sign in the world.

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

4. ... So it's a good idea the town boasts 14 of the world's 20 greatest hotels.

5. There's a lot property for tourists to benefit from, it would take an individual 288 years to spend 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 hundreds of homeless citizens.

7. The strip's Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel and Gambling establishment got its name from founder-- and famous 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 hotels and gambling establishments. Even legendary performers like Louis Armstrong and Nat King Cole were forced to get in and exit the venues in which they were carrying out through back entrances and side entryways. In 1952, acting legend Sammy Davis Jr. took a dip in the whites-only swimming pool at the New Frontier Hotel & Gambling Establishment. Later on, the supervisor had it drained.

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

In the 1950s and early 1960s, Las Vegas was understood for putting on a various type of program. Las Vegas' Chamber of Commerce saw a moneymaking chance, and chose to distribute calendars advertising detonation times and choice viewing areas.

11. Famous recluse Howard Hughes checked out 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. Rather, he began settlements to buy the 715-room spot. His purchase was total 3 months later on.

12. FedEx creator Frederick W. Smith conserved 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. His, er, gamble provided the company enough cash to survive.

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

Nevada law states that video slot machines must pay back a minimum of 75 percent of the cash transferred on average. (Though it's worth keeping in mind that in New Jersey, house to 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 nation-- combined.

17. The half-scale model of the Eiffel Tower, located outside Paris Las Vegas, was initially prepared to be full-size, however due to the close distance of the airport-- just three miles-- it had to be shrunk down. In contrast, the Luxor Las Vegas' Sphinx is actually 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 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 spaces at Bellagio Las Vegas-- more than the variety of homeowners in the city of Bellagio, Italy.

21. Not into casinos? The city also features a this website heavy equipment play ground where construction lovers can drive around bulldozers for fun.

22. Before his death in 2009, Michael Jackson was looking into 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 diner Heart Attack Grill, waitresses gown in nurses clothes and clients can purchase an 8000-calorie quadruple bypass hamburger with a side of flatliner french fries. In 2013, one of the area's routine customers passed away ... from an obvious heart attack.

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


Many of Vegas' renowned hotels aren't technically located in the city of Las Vegas. A good portion of the Las Vegas Strip-- and the famed "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign-- are actually situated in an unincorporated municipality called Paradise, Nevada.

One attraction that is within Las Vegas city limits: Vegas Vic, the extra-large neon cowboy that administers over downtown's well known 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 inequitable Jim Crow laws, which-- with the exception of low-wage service tasks-- kept African Americans out of the growing city's hotels and gambling establishments.

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