24 Things You Ought To Understand About Las Vegas and the Nearby Strip

Exactly what occurs in Vegas ... well, you understand the rest. Here are 24 truths about Sin City you likely have not heard.

1. Many of Vegas' iconic hotels aren't technically situated in the city of Las Vegas. An excellent portion of the Las Vegas Strip-- and the renowned "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" indication-- are actually located in an unincorporated municipality 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 famous 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 excellent thing the town boasts 14 of the world's 20 biggest hotels.

5. There's so much realty 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 below the city. Miles of tunnels-- originally constructed to protect the desert town from flash floods-- house numerous homeless residents.

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

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 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 ended up being the city's first interracial gambling establishment. Famous fighter 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 various type of show. At the Nevada Test Website, simply 65 miles northwest of the city, the United States Department of Energy would check nuclear devices. Las Vegas' Chamber of Commerce saw a moneymaking opportunity, and decided to distribute calendars promoting detonation times and option watching locations.

Famous recluse Howard Hughes examined into the strip's Desert Inn on Thanksgiving Day 1966, leasing the whole leading two floors. When he overstayed his 10-day booking, he was asked to leave.

12. FedEx founder Frederick W. Smith saved the shipment business with a journey to Vegas. In 1974-- 3 years after he developed the business-- the Yale graduate 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 money to survive.

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

14. Reason to hope? Nevada law states that video slot machines must repay a minimum of 75 percent of the loan transferred usually. (Though it's worth noting that in New Jersey, home to gambling mecca Atlantic City, it's 83 percent.).

15. It takes approximately 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. No surprise some 10,000 couples wed in the city monthly.

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-- combined.

17. The half-scale model of the Eiffel Tower, located outside Paris Las Vegas, was originally prepared to be full-size, but due to the close proximity of the airport-- simply 3 miles-- it had actually to be shrunk down. In contrast, the Luxor Las Vegas' Sphinx is actually bigger than the initial Terrific 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 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 playground where construction lovers can drive around bulldozers news 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.

At Vegas restaurant Heart Attack Grill, waitresses gown in nurses attire and patrons can order an 8000-calorie quadruple bypass hamburger with a side of flatliner french fries. In 2013, one of the spot's regular patrons passed away ... from an evident heart attack.

24. From external 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' iconic hotels aren't technically located in the city of Las Vegas. A great portion of the Las Vegas Strip-- and the renowned "Invite to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign-- are in fact situated in an unincorporated town called Paradise, Nevada.

One attraction that is within Las Vegas city limitations: Vegas Vic, the large neon cowboy that presides over downtown's renowned Fremont Street. The strip's Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel and Gambling establishment got its name from founder-- 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 tasks-- kept African Americans out of the growing city's hotels and gambling establishments.

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