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

What happens in Vegas ... well, you know the rest. However here are 24 realities about Sin City you likely haven't heard.

1. The majority of Vegas' iconic hotels aren't technically located in the city of Las Vegas. A great 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 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 an advantage the town boasts 14 of the world's 20 most significant hotels.

5. There's a lot property for travelers to make the most of, it would take a person 288 years to spend a night in every hotel room in the city.

6. There's a secret city beneath the city. Miles of tunnels-- initially constructed 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 legendary mobster-- Bugsy Siegel's sweetheart. Actress Virginia Hill went by the nickname "The Flamingo" since of her red hair and long, thin legs.

8. In the mid-20th century, Las Vegas had its own set of discriminatory 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. Even legendary entertainers like Louis Armstrong and Nat King Cole were required to get in and exit the venues in which they were carrying out 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. Afterwards, the manager 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, declared, "This isn't the opening of a Las Vegas hotel. It's history."

In the 1950s and early 1960s, Las Vegas was understood for putting on a different type of show. Las Vegas' Chamber of Commerce saw a moneymaking opportunity, and decided to distribute calendars advertising detonation times and choice viewing locations.

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 booking, 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 created the company-- 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 business enough loan to stay afloat.

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

Nevada law specifies that video slot devices should 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. up until midnight. Not surprising that some 10,000 couples wed in the city each month.

More than 60,000 pounds of the shellfish are consumed in the city each day. That's higher than the rest of the country-- integrated.

17. The half-scale design of the a fantastic read Eiffel Tower, situated outside Paris Las Vegas, was initially prepared to be full-size, however due to the close distance of the airport-- simply 3 miles-- it needed to be shrunk down. On the other hand, the Luxor Las Vegas' Sphinx is really bigger than the original Terrific Sphinx of Giza.

18. At 50 lots, 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 real gold dust.

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

21. Not into gambling establishments? The city likewise features a heavy equipment play ground where building lovers 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 stroll the Nevada desert.

23. At Vegas diner Heart Attack Grill, waitresses gown in nurses attire and patrons can purchase an 8000-calorie quadruple bypass burger with a side of flatliner french fries. (Fried in pure lard!) In 2013, one of the spot's regular customers passed away ... from an apparent heart attack.

24. From deep space, 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 portion of the Las Vegas Strip-- and the renowned "Invite to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign-- are really located in an unincorporated municipality called Paradise, Nevada.

One tourist attraction that is within Las Vegas city limits: 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 sweetheart. 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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