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

Exactly what happens in Vegas ... well, you know the rest. Here are 24 truths about Sin City you likely have not heard.

1. Most of Vegas' iconic hotels aren't technically situated in the city of Las Vegas. A great portion of the Las Vegas Strip-- and the well known "Invite to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign-- are really situated in an unincorporated township called Paradise, Nevada.

2. One attraction that is within Las Vegas city limitations: Vegas Vic, the extra-large 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 an advantage the town boasts 14 of the world's 20 greatest hotels.

5. There's a lot property for travelers to take advantage 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 beneath the city. Miles of tunnels-- initially built to secure the desert town from flash floods-- home hundreds of homeless citizens.

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

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 out of the growing city's hotels and gambling establishments. In 1952, acting legend Sammy Davis Jr. took a dip in the whites-only swimming pool at the New Frontier Hotel & Casino.

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, stated, "This isn't really the opening of a Las Vegas hotel. It's history."

In the 1950s and early 1960s, Las Vegas was understood for putting on a different type of show. Las Vegas' Chamber of Commerce saw a moneymaking opportunity, and chose to distribute calendars advertising detonation times and choice viewing places.

11. Legendary recluse Howard Hughes looked into the strip's Desert Inn on Thanksgiving Day 1966, leasing the whole leading 2 floors. He was asked to leave when he overstayed his 10-day reservation. Instead, he began settlements to purchase the 715-room area. His purchase was total 3 months later on.

FedEx founder Frederick W. Smith saved the delivery company with a journey to Vegas. In 1974-- 3 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.

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

14. Need to hope? Nevada law mentions that video fruit machine should pay back a minimum of 75 percent of the cash deposited typically. (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 marital relationship license at the bureau in downtown Las Vegas, which is open every day from 8 a.m. till midnight. Not surprising that 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 greater than the rest of the country-- combined.

17. The half-scale design of the Eiffel Tower, located outside Paris Las Vegas, was originally planned to be full-size, but due to the close proximity of the airport-- simply 3 miles-- it needed 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 thought to be the biggest bronze sculpture in the western hemisphere.

19. The distinct 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 variety of locals in the city of Bellagio, Italy.

21. Not into casinos? The city also includes a heavy devices play area where building enthusiasts 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 navigate here diner Cardiac arrest Grill, waitresses dress in nurses attire and patrons can order an 8000-calorie quadruple bypass hamburger with a side of flatliner french fries. (Fried in pure lard!) Regrettably, in 2013, among the spot's regular patrons died ... from an apparent heart attack.

24. From deep space, the Las Vegas Strip appears as the brightest area on Earth. Who cares if it's not in fact in Las Vegas?


Most of Vegas' iconic hotels aren't technically located in the city of Las Vegas. An excellent part of the Las Vegas Strip-- and the well known "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign-- are in fact situated in an unincorporated town called Paradise, Nevada.

One attraction that is within Las Vegas city limitations: Vegas Vic, the large neon cowboy that presides over downtown's well known Fremont Street. The strip's Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel and Gambling establishment got its name from creator-- and legendary mobster-- Bugsy Siegel's sweetheart. 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 gambling establishments and hotels.

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