Exactly what occurs in Vegas ... well, you understand the rest. But 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. An excellent portion of the Las Vegas Strip-- and the well known "Invite to Fabulous Las Vegas" indication-- are in fact located in an unincorporated town called Paradise, Nevada.
2. One tourist attraction that is within Las Vegas city limitations: Vegas Vic, the oversized neon cowboy that presides over 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 an advantage the town boasts 14 of the world's 20 greatest hotels.
5. There's so much real estate for travelers 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 beneath the city. Miles of tunnels-- initially constructed to protect the desert town from flash floods-- house hundreds of homeless citizens.
7. The strip's Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel and Gambling establishment got its name from creator-- and legendary mobster-- Bugsy Siegel's girlfriend. Actress Virginia Hill went by 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 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 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."
10. In the 1950s and early 1960s, Las Vegas was understood for placing on a various kind of program. At the Nevada Test Site, just 65 miles northwest of the city, the U.S. Department of Energy would test nuclear devices. Las Vegas' Chamber of Commerce saw a moneymaking opportunity, and chose to disperse calendars marketing detonation times and option watching areas.
Legendary 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 booking, he was asked to leave.
FedEx founder Frederick W. Smith saved the delivery company with a journey to Vegas. In 1974-- 3 years after he developed the business-- 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 phone numbers than any other city in the United States.
14. Reason to hope? Nevada law mentions that video fruit machine need to repay a minimum of 75 percent of the loan transferred usually. (Though it deserves keeping in mind that in New Jersey, home to gambling mecca Atlantic City, it's 83 percent.).
15. It takes approximately 10 minutes to capture 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 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 nation-- combined.
17. The half-scale model of the Eiffel Tower, located outside Paris Las Vegas, was originally prepared to be full-size, however due to the close distance of the airport-- just three miles-- it needed to be shrunk down. In contrast, the Luxor Las Vegas' Sphinx is actually larger than the original Excellent 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 comes 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 features a heavy equipment playground where construction enthusiasts can drive around bulldozers for enjoyable.
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.
23. At Vegas diner Heart Attack Grill, waitresses dress in nurses garb and clients can buy an 8000-calorie quadruple bypass hamburger with a side of flatliner french fries. (Fried in pure lard!) Sadly, in 2013, among the spot's regular patrons passed away ... from an apparent heart attack.
24. From outer space, the Las Vegas Strip appears as las vegas the brightest area on Earth. Who cares if it's not in fact in Las Vegas?
Many of Vegas' renowned hotels aren't technically located in the city of Las Vegas. A good portion of the Las Vegas Strip-- and the famed "Invite to Fabulous Las Vegas" indication-- are in fact situated in an unincorporated town called Paradise, Nevada.
One tourist attraction that is within Las Vegas city limits: Vegas Vic, the oversized neon cowboy that administers over downtown's renowned Fremont Street. The strip's Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel and Gambling establishment got its name from creator-- and legendary mobster-- Bugsy Siegel's girlfriend. 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 gambling establishments and hotels.