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

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

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

2. One tourist attraction that is within Las Vegas city limitations: Vegas Vic, the large neon cowboy that administers over downtown's famed Fremont Street. It's the largest mechanical neon check 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 take benefit 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 built to protect the desert town from flash floods-- house numerous homeless homeowners.

7. The strip's Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel and Gambling establishment got its name from founder-- and legendary mobster-- Bugsy Siegel's girlfriend. Starlet Virginia Hill passed the label "The Flamingo" due to the fact that of her red hair and long, thin legs.

In the mid-20th century, Las Vegas possessed its own set of discriminatory Jim Crow laws, which-- with the exception of low-wage service jobs-- 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 & Gambling Establishment.

In May 1955, the Moulin Rouge made history when it ended up being the city's very first interracial casino. Legendary boxer Joe Louis, a part owner, declared, "This isn't the opening of a Las Vegas hotel.

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 chose to disperse calendars marketing detonation times and option viewing locations.

11. Legendary recluse Howard Hughes checked into the strip's Desert Inn on Thanksgiving Day 1966, renting the entire top two floorings. When he overstayed his 10-day appointment, he was asked to leave. Rather, he began negotiations to buy the 715-room spot. His purchase was complete three months later.

12. FedEx founder Frederick W. Smith saved the shipment business with a journey to Vegas. In 1974-- 3 years after he developed the business-- the Yale graduate took the endeavor's last $5,000 and turned it into $32,000 with a weekend of blackjack. His, er, gamble offered 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 betting capital Atlantic City, navigate here it's 83 percent.).

15. It takes approximately 10 minutes to capture a marital relationship license at the bureau in downtown Las Vegas, which is open every day from 8 a.m. up until midnight. No marvel some 10,000 couples wed in the city every month.

16. Let them consume ... shrimp mixed drinks? More than 60,000 pounds of the shellfish are consumed in the city every day. That's higher than the rest of the country-- combined.

17. The half-scale design 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-- just three miles-- it needed to be diminished down. On the other hand, the Luxor Las Vegas' Sphinx is in fact bigger than the original 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 unique gold color of the windows at the Mirage Hotel originates from actual gold dust.

20. There are 3933 guest rooms at Bellagio Las Vegas-- more than the variety of citizens 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 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 stroll the Nevada desert.

23. At Vegas diner Heart Attack Grill, waitresses gown in nurses clothes and customers can purchase an 8000-calorie quadruple bypass burger with a side of flatliner french fries. (Fried in pure lard!) Regrettably, in 2013, one of the spot's routine customers passed away ... from an evident cardiovascular disease.

24. From external space, the Las Vegas Strip appears as 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 good portion of the Las Vegas Strip-- and the renowned "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign-- are in fact located in an unincorporated township called Paradise, Nevada.

One destination that is within Las Vegas city limits: Vegas Vic, the oversized neon cowboy that administers over downtown's well known Fremont Street. The strip's Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel and Casino got its name from creator-- and famous mobster-- Bugsy Siegel's girlfriend. In the mid-20th century, Las Vegas had its own set of prejudiced Jim Crow laws, which-- with the exception of low-wage service jobs-- kept African Americans out of the growing city's casinos and hotels.

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