24 Things You Must Understand About Las Vegas and the Nearby Strip

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

1. The majority of Vegas' renowned hotels aren't technically situated in the city of Las Vegas. An excellent portion of the Las Vegas Strip-- and the well known "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 limitations: Vegas Vic, the extra-large neon cowboy that presides over 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 idea the town boasts 14 of the world's 20 most significant hotels.

5. There's a lot realty for travelers to take advantage of, it would take a person 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 protect the desert town from flash floods-- house hundreds of homeless residents.

7. The strip's Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel and Casino got its name from founder-- and famous mobster-- Bugsy Siegel's sweetheart. Starlet Virginia Hill passed the nickname "The Flamingo" since 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 tasks-- kept African Americans out of the growing city's hotels and casinos. Even legendary entertainers like Louis Armstrong and Nat King Cole were required to get in and exit the venues where they were carrying out through back entrances and side entranceways. 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 first interracial casino. Famous fighter Joe Louis, a part owner, stated, "This isn't really the opening of a Las Vegas hotel. It's history."

10. In the 1950s and early 1960s, Las Vegas was understood for placing on a various type of show. At the Nevada Test Site, just 65 miles northwest of the city, the U.S. Department of Energy would evaluate nuclear devices. Las Vegas' Chamber of Commerce saw a moneymaking chance, and chose to disperse calendars marketing detonation times and option viewing places.

Famous 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 founder Frederick W. Smith saved the delivery company with a trip to Vegas. In 1974-- 3 years after he produced the business-- the Yale graduate took the endeavor's news last $5,000 and turned it into $32,000 with a weekend of blackjack. His, er, gamble offered the business enough loan to survive.

13. Do not interrupt: Vegas has more unlisted contact number 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 surprise 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 higher than the rest of the country-- combined.

17. The half-scale model of the Eiffel Tower, located 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. On the other hand, the Luxor Las Vegas' Sphinx is really bigger than the initial Fantastic 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 unique gold color of the windows at the Mirage Hotel comes from actual gold dust.

20. There are 3933 guest spaces at Bellagio Las Vegas-- more than the variety of homeowners in the city of Bellagio, Italy.

21. Not into gambling establishments? The city likewise includes a heavy devices play area where building lovers 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.

At Vegas diner Heart Attack Grill, waitresses dress in nurses attire and customers can order an 8000-calorie quadruple bypass burger with a side of flatliner fries. In 2013, one of the area's routine clients 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 actually in Las Vegas?


Many of Vegas' renowned hotels aren't technically situated in the city of Las Vegas. A great portion of the Las Vegas Strip-- and the well known "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign-- are in fact situated in an unincorporated area called Paradise, Nevada.

One tourist attraction that is within Las Vegas city limitations: Vegas Vic, the 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 creator-- 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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