What happens in Vegas ... well, you know the rest. But here are 24 realities about Sin City you likely haven't heard.
1. The majority of Vegas' iconic hotels aren't technically located in the city of Las Vegas. A great part 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 limits: Vegas Vic, the oversized neon cowboy that presides over downtown's famous Fremont Street. It's the biggest mechanical neon check 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 so much real estate for travelers to benefit from, 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-- initially constructed to protect the desert town from flash floods-- house numerous homeless citizens.
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 nickname "The Flamingo" because of her red hair and long, thin legs.
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 gambling establishments. In 1952, acting legend Sammy Davis Jr. took a dip in the whites-only swimming pool at the New Frontier Hotel & Casino.
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.
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 decided to distribute calendars advertising detonation times and choice viewing locations.
11. Famous recluse Howard Hughes checked out the strip's Desert Inn on Thanksgiving Day 1966, renting the entire top two floors. He was asked to leave when he overstayed his 10-day reservation. Instead, he started settlements to purchase the 715-room area. His purchase was total three months later.
FedEx founder Frederick W. Smith saved the shipment business with a journey to Vegas. In 1974-- three years after he created the business-- the Yale graduate took the endeavor's last $5,000 and turned it into $32,000 with a weekend of blackjack.
13. Do not disrupt: Vegas has more unlisted telephone number than any other city in the United States.
14. Need to hope? Nevada law states that video fruit machine need to repay a minimum of 75 percent of the cash transferred typically. (Though it's worth noting that in New Jersey, the home of gambling capital Atlantic City, it's 83 percent.).
15. It takes roughly 10 minutes to snatch 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 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 greater than the remainder of the nation-- integrated.
17. The half-scale design of the Eiffel Tower, situated outside Paris Las Vegas, was initially prepared to be full-size, but due to the close proximity 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 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 actual gold dust.
20. There are 3933 guest rooms at Bellagio Las Vegas-- more than the variety of homeowners in the city of Bellagio, Italy.
21. Not into gambling establishments? The city also features a heavy equipment play ground 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 planned to advertise it with a 50-foot robot-likeness of himself that would stroll the Nevada desert.
At Vegas restaurant Heart Attack Grill, waitresses gown in nurses garb and clients can buy an 8000-calorie quadruple bypass burger with a side of flatliner fries. In 2013, one of the area's regular patrons passed away ... from an evident heart attack.
24. From outer space, the Las Vegas Strip looks like the brightest spot on Earth. Who cares if it's not in fact in Las Vegas?
Most of Vegas' renowned hotels aren't technically situated in click to read more the city of Las Vegas. A good part of the Las Vegas Strip-- and the famous "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" indication-- are really located 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 renowned Fremont Street. The strip's Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel and Gambling establishment got its name from founder-- and famous mobster-- Bugsy Siegel's girlfriend. In the mid-20th century, Las Vegas possessed 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 hotels and gambling establishments.