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

What happens in Vegas ... well, you know the rest. But here are 24 truths 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 township called Paradise, Nevada.

2. One tourist attraction that is within Las Vegas city limitations: Vegas Vic, the extra-large neon cowboy that commands 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 a good idea the town boasts 14 of the world's 20 greatest hotels.

5. There's so much property for tourists to benefit from, it would take an individual 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-- initially built to protect the desert town from flash floods-- house numerous homeless homeowners.

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

8. In the mid-20th century, Las Vegas possessed its own set of discriminatory Jim Crow laws, which-- with the exception of low-wage service jobs-- kept African Americans from the growing city's hotels and gambling establishments. Even legendary entertainers like Louis Armstrong and Nat King Cole were required to get in and leave the places 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.

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

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

11. Famous recluse Howard Hughes checked out the strip's Desert Inn on Thanksgiving Day 1966, leasing the whole leading 2 floors. He was asked to leave when he overstayed his 10-day booking. Instead, he began settlements to purchase the 715-room area. His purchase was complete three months later.

FedEx creator Frederick W. Smith conserved the shipment business with a journey 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.

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

14. Need to hope? Nevada law states that video fruit machine need to repay a minimum of 75 percent of the loan transferred usually. (Though it deserves keeping in mind that in New Jersey, house to betting capital Atlantic City, it's 83 percent.).

15. It takes approximately news 10 minutes to capture a marital relationship license at the bureau in downtown Las Vegas, which is open every day from 8 a.m. up until midnight. Not surprising that some 10,000 couples wed in the city monthly.

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 proximity of the airport-- just 3 miles-- it needed to be diminished down. On the other hand, the Luxor Las Vegas' Sphinx is really larger than the original Great Sphinx of Giza.

18. At 50 tons, 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 3933 guest spaces at Bellagio Las Vegas-- more than the number of locals in the city of Bellagio, Italy.

21. Not into casinos? The city also includes a heavy devices play area where building and construction lovers can drive around bulldozers for fun.

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

23. At Vegas diner Cardiovascular disease Grill, waitresses gown in nurses attire and customers can order an 8000-calorie quadruple bypass burger with a side of flatliner french fries. (Fried in pure lard!) Sadly, in 2013, one of the spot's routine clients died ... from an apparent heart attack.

24. From external area, 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 famed "Invite to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign-- are actually situated in an unincorporated area called Paradise, Nevada.

One attraction that is within Las Vegas city limitations: Vegas Vic, the extra-large neon cowboy that presides over downtown's famed Fremont Street. The strip's Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel and Gambling establishment got its name from creator-- and famous mobster-- Bugsy Siegel's girlfriend. In the mid-20th century, Las Vegas possessed its own set of inequitable Jim Crow laws, which-- with the exception of low-wage service jobs-- kept African Americans out of the growing city's gambling establishments and hotels.

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