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

What happens in Vegas ... well, you understand the rest. However here are 24 facts about Sin City you likely have not heard.

1. The majority of Vegas' iconic 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 actually situated in an unincorporated municipality called Paradise, Nevada.

2. One attraction that is within Las Vegas city limits: Vegas Vic, the large neon cowboy that commands downtown's famed 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 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-- originally developed to secure the desert town from flash floods-- home numerous homeless residents.

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

8. In the mid-20th century, Las Vegas had its own set of inequitable 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. Even famous entertainers like Louis Armstrong and Nat King Cole were forced to go into and leave the places where they were performing through back doors 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. Afterwards, the manager had it drained.

In May 1955, the Moulin Rouge made history when it ended up being the city's very first interracial gambling establishment. Famous fighter Joe Louis, a part owner, stated, "This isn't really 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, simply 65 miles northwest of the city, the United States Department of Energy would check nuclear gadgets. Las Vegas' Chamber of Commerce saw a moneymaking chance, and chose to disperse calendars advertising detonation times and choice watching areas.

Legendary recluse Howard Hughes checked into the strip's Desert Inn on Thanksgiving Day 1966, renting the entire top two floors. When he overstayed his 10-day reservation, he was asked to leave.

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 gave the company enough money to stay afloat.

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

Nevada law specifies that video slot devices should pay back a minimum of 75 percent of the money transferred on average. (Though it's worth keeping in mind that in New Jersey, house to betting 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. till midnight. No surprise some 10,000 couples wed in the city monthly.

16. Let them consume ... 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 nation-- integrated.

17. The half-scale design of the Eiffel Tower, situated outside Paris Las Vegas, was originally planned to be full-size, but due to the close distance of the airport-- simply 3 miles-- it had to be shrunk down. In contrast, the Luxor Las Vegas' Sphinx is actually bigger than the initial Great Sphinx of Giza.

18. At 50 heaps, the bronze lion outside the MGM Grand Hotel is thought to be the biggest 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 number of residents in the city of Bellagio, Italy.

21. Not into gambling establishments? The city likewise features a heavy devices play ground where building enthusiasts can drive around bulldozers for enjoyable.

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

23. At Vegas restaurant Cardiovascular disease Grill, waitresses dress in nurses garb and clients can purchase an 8000-calorie quadruple bypass burger with a side of flatliner fries. (Fried in pure lard!) Regrettably, in 2013, one of the spot's routine customers passed away ... from an apparent cardiac arrest.

24. From external space, the Las Vegas Strip looks like 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 famed "Invite to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign-- are actually situated in an unincorporated town called Paradise, Nevada.

One attraction that news 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 Casino got its name from creator-- and legendary mobster-- Bugsy Siegel's sweetheart. In the mid-20th century, Las Vegas had 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 gambling establishments and hotels.

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