What happens in Vegas ... well, you know the rest. Here are 24 truths about Sin City you likely have not heard.
1. Many of Vegas' iconic hotels aren't technically located in the city of Las Vegas. A great portion of the Las Vegas Strip-- and the famous "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 oversized neon cowboy that commands downtown's well known 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 thing the town boasts 14 of the world's 20 most significant hotels.
5. There's so much realty for tourists to make the most of, it would take an individual 288 years to spend a night in every hotel room 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-- house hundreds of homeless locals.
7. The strip's Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel and Gambling establishment got its name from founder-- and famous mobster-- Bugsy Siegel's sweetheart. Actress Virginia Hill went by the label "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 jobs-- kept African Americans out of the growing city's casinos and hotels. In 1952, acting legend Sammy Davis Jr. took a dip in the whites-only swimming pool at the New Frontier Hotel & Gambling Establishment.
9. 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, declared, "This isn't the opening of a Las Vegas hotel. It's history."
10. In the 1950s and early 1960s, Las Vegas was known for putting on a different type of show. At the Nevada Test Site, just 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 marketing detonation times and option watching locations.
Famous recluse Howard Hughes examined into the strip's Desert Inn on Thanksgiving Day 1966, leasing the whole leading 2 floorings. When he overstayed his 10-day appointment, he was asked to leave.
12. FedEx creator Frederick W. Smith conserved the delivery company with a trip to Vegas. In 1974-- 3 years after he produced the business-- 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 disturb: Vegas has more unlisted contact 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 on average. (Though it deserves keeping in mind that in New Jersey, the home of betting capital 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 marvel some 10,000 couples wed in the city every month.
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 initially planned to be full-size, but due to the close proximity of the airport-- simply 3 miles-- it had actually to be shrunk down. In contrast, the Luxor Las Vegas' Sphinx is actually bigger than the initial 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 distinctive gold color of the windows at have a peek here the Mirage Hotel comes from real gold dust.
20. There are 3933 guest rooms at Bellagio Las Vegas-- more than the number of homeowners in the city of Bellagio, Italy.
21. Not into gambling establishments? The city also features a heavy devices play ground where building enthusiasts can drive around bulldozers for fun.
22. Before his death in 2009, Michael Jackson was looking into doing a Vegas residency. He prepared to promote it with a 50-foot robot-likeness of himself that would wander the Nevada desert.
At Vegas restaurant Heart Attack Grill, waitresses dress in nurses garb and patrons can buy an 8000-calorie quadruple bypass burger with a side of flatliner fries. In 2013, one of the area's routine patrons passed away ... from an evident heart attack.
24. From deep space, the Las Vegas Strip looks like the brightest spot on Earth. Who cares if it's not actually in Las Vegas?
Many of Vegas' iconic hotels aren't technically located in the city of Las Vegas. An excellent part of the Las Vegas Strip-- and the famed "Invite to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign-- are actually 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 famous 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 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.