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

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

1. Most of Vegas' renowned hotels aren't technically situated in the city of Las Vegas. A great part of the Las Vegas Strip-- and the renowned "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" indication-- are in fact located in an unincorporated town called Paradise, Nevada.

2. One destination 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 excellent thing the town boasts 14 of the world's 20 biggest hotels.

5. There's so much genuine estate for tourists to make the most 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 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 famous mobster-- Bugsy Siegel's sweetheart. Actress Virginia Hill went by the label "The Flamingo" due to the fact that 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 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.

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

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 gadgets. Las Vegas' Chamber of Commerce saw a moneymaking chance, and decided to distribute calendars advertising detonation times and choice viewing places.

11. Famous 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.

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 telephone number than any other city in the United States.

14. Need to hope? Nevada law states that video fruit machine must pay back 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 roughly 10 minutes to nab a marriage license at the bureau in downtown Las Vegas, which is open every day from 8 a.m. till midnight. Not surprising that some 10,000 couples wed in the city every month.

More than 60,000 pounds of the shellfish are consumed in the city each day. That's greater 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-- simply three miles-- it needed to be shrunk down. In contrast, the Luxor Las Vegas' Sphinx is in fact 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 biggest bronze sculpture in the western hemisphere.

19. The unique 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 variety of citizens in the city of Bellagio, Italy.

21. Not into gambling establishments? The city also features a heavy equipment play ground where building enthusiasts 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 this contact form robot-likeness of himself that would stroll the Nevada desert.

23. At Vegas restaurant Cardiovascular disease Grill, waitresses dress in nurses garb and patrons can buy an 8000-calorie quadruple bypass burger with a side of flatliner fries. (Fried in pure lard!) In 2013, one of the spot's routine clients 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 really in Las Vegas?


Most of Vegas' renowned hotels aren't technically located in the city of Las Vegas. A good part of the Las Vegas Strip-- and the famous "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" indication-- are really situated in an unincorporated town called Paradise, Nevada.

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