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

Exactly what takes place in Vegas ... well, you know the rest. However here are 24 facts about Sin City you likely have not heard.

1. The majority of Vegas' renowned hotels aren't technically situated in the city of Las Vegas. A good portion of the Las Vegas Strip-- and the famous "Invite to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign-- are really situated in an unincorporated municipality called Paradise, Nevada.

2. One attraction that is within Las Vegas city limitations: Vegas Vic, the extra-large neon cowboy that presides over downtown's renowned Fremont Street. It's the largest mechanical neon sign in the world.

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

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

5. There's a lot real estate for tourists to benefit from, 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-- 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 label "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 hotels and gambling establishments. Even legendary performers like Louis Armstrong and Nat King Cole were required to get in and leave the places in which they were performing through back entrances and side entryways. In 1952, acting legend Sammy Davis Jr. took a dip in the whites-only pool at the New Frontier Hotel & Gambling Establishment. Later on, the supervisor had it drained pipes.

9. In May 1955, the Moulin Rouge made history when it became the city's first interracial casino. Legendary boxer 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 advertising detonation times and option watching areas.

Famous recluse Howard Hughes examined into the strip's Desert Inn on Thanksgiving Day 1966, leasing the whole leading 2 floors. When he overstayed his 10-day reservation, he was asked to leave.

12. FedEx founder Frederick W. Smith saved the delivery business 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. His, er, gamble provided the business enough loan to remain afloat.

13. Do not disturb: Vegas has more unlisted phone numbers than any 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 roughly 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 monthly.

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 design of the Eiffel Tower, situated outside Paris Las Vegas, was initially planned to be full-size, but due to the close distance of the airport-- simply three miles-- it had to be shrunk down. On the other hand, the Luxor Las Vegas' Sphinx is in fact bigger than the original Fantastic 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 number of locals in the city of Bellagio, Italy.

21. Not into casinos? The city likewise includes a heavy equipment playground 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.

23. At Vegas diner Heart Attack Grill, waitresses gown in nurses garb and patrons 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 patrons passed away ... from an apparent heart attack.

24. From external area, 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. An excellent part of the Las Vegas Strip-- and the famed "Invite to Fabulous Las Vegas" indication-- are actually 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 administers over downtown's famous 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 have a peek at these guys low-wage service tasks-- kept African Americans out of the growing city's hotels and casinos.

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