24 Things You Should Learn About Las Vegas and the Close-by Strip

What takes place 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. An excellent portion of the Las Vegas Strip-- and the well known "Invite to Fabulous Las Vegas" indication-- are actually located in an unincorporated town called Paradise, Nevada.

2. One destination that is within Las Vegas city limitations: Vegas Vic, the oversized neon cowboy that presides over downtown's well known Fremont Street. It's the biggest 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 most significant hotels.

5. There's a lot real estate for travelers to make the most of, it would take a person 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-- initially built to safeguard the desert town from flash floods-- home numerous homeless residents.

7. The strip's Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel and Casino got its name from founder-- and legendary mobster-- Bugsy Siegel's sweetheart. Starlet Virginia Hill passed the nickname "The Flamingo" because of her red hair and long, thin legs.

In the mid-20th century, Las Vegas had its own set of prejudiced Jim Crow laws, which-- with the exception of low-wage service tasks-- kept African Americans out of the growing city's gambling establishments 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 first interracial casino. Legendary fighter Joe Louis, a part owner, stated, "This isn't really the opening of a Las Vegas hotel. It's history."

10. In the 1950s and early 1960s, Las Vegas was understood for placing on a various kind of program. At the Nevada Test Website, simply 65 miles northwest of the city, the United States Department of Energy would evaluate nuclear gadgets. Las Vegas' Chamber of Commerce saw a moneymaking chance, and chose to disperse calendars marketing detonation times and choice viewing places.

Legendary recluse Howard Hughes checked into the strip's Desert Inn on Thanksgiving Day 1966, leasing the entire top two floors. When he overstayed his 10-day reservation, 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 developed the business-- the Yale graduate took the endeavor's last $5,000 and turned it into $32,000 with a weekend a fantastic read of blackjack. His, er, gamble provided the company enough cash to survive.

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

14. Reason to hope? Nevada law specifies that video fruit machine need to repay a minimum of 75 percent of the cash deposited on average. (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 snatch 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 higher than the rest of the country-- 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 3 miles-- it needed to be diminished down. In contrast, the Luxor Las Vegas' Sphinx is really 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 number of homeowners in the city of Bellagio, Italy.

21. Not into gambling establishments? The city likewise includes a heavy devices playground where construction enthusiasts can drive around bulldozers for enjoyable.

22. Prior to 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 wander the Nevada desert.

23. At Vegas restaurant Cardiac arrest Grill, waitresses dress in nurses attire and patrons can order an 8000-calorie quadruple bypass burger with a side of flatliner fries. (Fried in pure lard!) In 2013, one of the spot's regular patrons passed away ... from an apparent heart attack.

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


Many of Vegas' renowned hotels aren't technically situated in the city of Las Vegas. A great portion of the Las Vegas Strip-- and the famed "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" indication-- are in fact situated in an unincorporated area called Paradise, Nevada.

One tourist attraction that is within Las Vegas city limits: Vegas Vic, the oversized 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 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.

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