What happens 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. A good part of the Las Vegas Strip-- and the renowned "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign-- are really situated in an unincorporated municipality called Paradise, Nevada.
2. One attraction that is within Las Vegas city limits: Vegas Vic, the large neon cowboy that commands downtown's renowned Fremont Street. It's the largest mechanical neon sign in the world.
3. More than 41 million visitors cycle through Sin City each year ...
4. ... So it's a great thing the town boasts 14 of the world's 20 greatest hotels.
5. There's a lot property for tourists to benefit from, it would take an individual 288 years to invest a night in every hotel space in the city.
6. There's a secret city underneath the city. Miles of tunnels-- originally developed to secure the desert town from flash floods-- home hundreds of homeless residents.
7. The strip's Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel and Casino got its name from creator-- and famous mobster-- Bugsy Siegel's sweetheart. Starlet Virginia Hill went by the nickname "The Flamingo" since of her red hair and long, thin legs.
8. 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 casinos. Even famous entertainers like Louis Armstrong and Nat King Cole were required to get in and exit the locations where they were carrying out through back entrances and side entryways. In 1952, acting legend Sammy Davis Jr. took a dip in the whites-only swimming pool at the New Frontier Hotel & Gambling Establishment. Later on, the manager had it drained pipes.
9. In May 1955, the Moulin Rouge made history when it became the city's first interracial gambling establishment. Famous boxer 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 various kind of show. At the Nevada Test Site, just 65 miles northwest of the city, the United States Department of Energy would evaluate nuclear gadgets. Las Vegas' Chamber of Commerce saw a moneymaking chance, and chose to disperse calendars advertising detonation times and choice viewing locations.
11. Legendary recluse Howard Hughes checked out the strip's Desert Inn on Thanksgiving Day 1966, renting the entire top 2 floorings. When he overstayed his 10-day appointment, he was asked to leave. Rather, he began settlements to purchase the 715-room area. His purchase was complete three months later.
FedEx creator Frederick W. Smith conserved the shipment business with a trip to Vegas. In 1974-- three 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 phone numbers than any other city in the United States.
Nevada law specifies that video slot devices should pay back a minimum of 75 percent of the cash transferred on average. (Though it's worth keeping in mind that in New Jersey, house to betting mecca Atlantic City, it's 83 percent.).
15. It takes roughly 10 minutes to snatch a marital relationship license at the bureau in downtown Las Vegas, which is open every day from 8 a.m. till midnight. No surprise some 10,000 couples wed in the city every month.
16. Let them eat ... have a peek here 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 country-- combined.
17. The half-scale model 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-- just three miles-- it had to be shrunk down. In contrast, the Luxor Las Vegas' Sphinx is actually larger than the original 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 comes from actual gold dust.
20. There are 3933 guest rooms at Bellagio Las Vegas-- more than the number of residents in the city of Bellagio, Italy.
21. Not into gambling establishments? The city also includes a heavy devices playground where building lovers 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 advertise it with a 50-foot robot-likeness of himself that would roam the Nevada desert.
At Vegas restaurant Heart Attack Grill, waitresses gown in nurses attire and customers can purchase an 8000-calorie quadruple bypass burger with a side of flatliner fries. In 2013, one of the area's routine clients passed away ... from an obvious heart attack.
24. From outer space, the Las Vegas Strip appears as the brightest spot on Earth. Who cares if it's not in fact in Las Vegas?
Many of Vegas' renowned hotels aren't technically situated in the city of Las Vegas. A great portion of the Las Vegas Strip-- and the famed "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" indication-- are in fact situated in an unincorporated area called Paradise, Nevada.
One tourist attraction that is within Las Vegas city limits: Vegas Vic, the oversized neon cowboy that presides over downtown's renowned Fremont Street. The strip's Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel and Gambling establishment got its name from creator-- and famous 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.