24 Things You Should Learn About Las Vegas and the Neighboring Strip

Exactly what occurs in Vegas ... well, you understand the rest. Here are 24 realities about Sin City you likely haven't heard.

1. Most of Vegas' iconic hotels aren't technically situated 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 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 commands downtown's famous Fremont Street. It's the biggest mechanical neon indication in the world.

3. More than 41 million visitors cycle through Sin City each year ...

4. ... So it's a good thing the town boasts 14 of the world's 20 biggest hotels.

5. There's so much realty for travelers to make the most of, it would take an individual 288 years to invest a night in every hotel space in the city.

6. There's a secret city underneath the city. Miles of tunnels-- originally developed to secure the desert town from flash floods-- home hundreds of homeless residents.

7. The strip's Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel and Gambling establishment got its name from founder-- and legendary mobster-- Bugsy Siegel's girlfriend. Starlet Virginia Hill passed the label "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 prejudiced 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 famous performers like Louis Armstrong and Nat King Cole were forced to go into and exit the locations where they were carrying out through back doors and side entryways. 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.

9. In May 1955, the Moulin Rouge made history when it became the city's very 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."

In the 1950s and early 1960s, Las Vegas was known for putting on a different type of show. Las Vegas' Chamber of Commerce saw a moneymaking opportunity, and decided to distribute calendars promoting detonation times and option watching areas.

Legendary recluse Howard Hughes inspected into the strip's Desert Inn on Thanksgiving Day 1966, renting the entire top 2 floorings. When he overstayed his 10-day booking, he was click site asked to leave.

12. 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 venture's last $5,000 and turned it into $32,000 with a weekend of blackjack. His, er, gamble gave the company enough money to survive.

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

14. Factor to hope? Nevada law specifies that video slot makers 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 10 minutes to nab a marriage license at the bureau in downtown Las Vegas, which is open every day from 8 a.m. until midnight. No wonder 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 greater than the remainder of the nation-- 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 had actually to be diminished down. In contrast, the Luxor Las Vegas' Sphinx is really larger than the initial Excellent Sphinx of Giza.

18. At 50 heaps, 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 rooms 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 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 wander the Nevada desert.

At Vegas restaurant Heart Attack Grill, waitresses dress in nurses garb and clients can purchase an 8000-calorie quadruple bypass burger with a side of flatliner fries. In 2013, one of the area's regular patrons passed away ... from an evident heart attack.

24. From external 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 situated in the city of Las Vegas. A great portion of the Las Vegas Strip-- and the renowned "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" indication-- are actually located in an unincorporated area 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 founder-- and legendary 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 casinos.

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