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

What takes place in Vegas ... well, you know the rest. But here are 24 truths about Sin City you likely have not heard.

1. The majority of Vegas' renowned hotels aren't technically located in the city of Las Vegas. An excellent part of the Las Vegas Strip-- and the famous "Invite to Fabulous Las Vegas" indication-- are actually located in an unincorporated area called Paradise, Nevada.

2. One destination that is within Las Vegas city limits: Vegas Vic, the oversized neon cowboy that presides over downtown's famous Fremont Street. It's the biggest mechanical neon sign 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 tourists to take advantage 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 safeguard the desert town from flash floods-- house 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.

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 tasks-- kept African Americans from the growing city's casinos and hotels. Even legendary entertainers like Louis Armstrong and Nat King Cole were required to get in and leave the venues in which they were performing through back doors and side entrances. In 1952, acting legend Sammy Davis Jr. swam in the whites-only pool at the New Frontier Hotel & Casino. Later on, the supervisor had it drained pipes.

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, stated, "This isn't the opening of a Las Vegas hotel.

10. In the 1950s and early 1960s, Las Vegas was known for putting on a different type of show. At the Nevada Test Site, just 65 miles northwest of the city, the U.S. Department of Energy would test nuclear devices. Las Vegas' Chamber of Commerce saw a moneymaking opportunity, and chose to disperse calendars marketing detonation times and option watching areas.

11. Legendary recluse Howard Hughes checked out the strip's Desert Inn on Thanksgiving Day 1966, renting the entire leading 2 floorings. He was asked to leave when he overstayed his 10-day appointment. Rather, he started negotiations to buy the 715-room spot. His purchase was total 3 months later.

12. FedEx creator Frederick W. Smith conserved the shipment business with a journey to Vegas. In 1974-- three years after he produced the company-- the Yale grad took the venture's last $5,000 and turned it into $32,000 with a weekend of blackjack. His, er, gamble provided the business enough cash to remain afloat.

13. Do not interrupt: Vegas has more unlisted phone numbers than other city in the United States.

Nevada law states that video slot machines must pay back a minimum of 75 percent of the money deposited on average. (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 catch a marriage license at the bureau in downtown Las Vegas, which is open every day from 8 a.m. until midnight. No marvel 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 higher than the rest of the country-- combined.

17. The half-scale model of the Eiffel Tower, located useful reference outside Paris Las Vegas, was originally prepared to be full-size, however due to the close distance of the airport-- simply 3 miles-- it had actually to be diminished down. On the other hand, the Luxor Las Vegas' Sphinx is really bigger than the initial Terrific Sphinx of Giza.

18. At 50 lots, the bronze lion outside the MGM Grand Hotel is believed to be the largest bronze sculpture in the western hemisphere.

19. The unique 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 residents in the city of Bellagio, Italy.

21. Not into casinos? The city also includes a heavy devices play ground where building enthusiasts can drive around bulldozers for fun.

22. Before his death in 2009, Michael Jackson was looking into doing a Vegas residency. He planned to advertise it with a 50-foot robot-likeness of himself that would roam the Nevada desert.

23. At Vegas restaurant Cardiovascular disease Grill, waitresses gown in nurses clothes and clients can buy an 8000-calorie quadruple bypass hamburger with a side of flatliner fries. (Fried in pure lard!) In 2013, one of the area's routine customers passed away ... from an obvious 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 famed "Invite to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign-- are in fact situated in an unincorporated town called Paradise, Nevada.

One destination that is within Las Vegas city limitations: Vegas Vic, the oversized neon cowboy that administers over downtown's well known Fremont Street. The strip's Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel and Gambling establishment got its name from founder-- and famous mobster-- Bugsy Siegel's girlfriend. In the mid-20th century, Las Vegas possessed 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 hotels and gambling establishments.

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