Exactly what happens in Vegas ... well, you know the rest. Here are 24 truths about Sin City you likely have not 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 renowned "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign-- are really located in an unincorporated area called Paradise, Nevada.
2. One attraction that is within Las Vegas city limits: Vegas Vic, the large neon cowboy that administers over downtown's renowned 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 an advantage the town boasts 14 of the world's 20 greatest hotels.
5. There's a lot real estate for tourists to make the most of, 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 safeguard the desert town from flash floods-- home numerous homeless residents.
7. The strip's Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel and Casino got its name from founder-- and famous mobster-- Bugsy Siegel's sweetheart. Starlet 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 discriminatory Jim Crow laws, which-- with the exception of low-wage service tasks-- 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 & Casino.
In May 1955, the Moulin Rouge made history when it became the city's very first interracial gambling establishment. Famous fighter Joe Louis, a part owner, stated, "This isn't the opening of a Las Vegas hotel.
10. In the 1950s and early 1960s, Las Vegas was known for putting on a different type of program. At the Nevada Test Website, simply 65 miles northwest of the city, the United States Department of Energy would check nuclear gadgets. Las Vegas' Chamber of Commerce saw a moneymaking opportunity, and decided to distribute calendars promoting detonation times and option watching areas.
11. Famous recluse Howard Hughes examined into the strip's Desert Inn on Thanksgiving Day 1966, leasing the whole top two floors. He was asked to leave when he overstayed his 10-day reservation. Instead, he started negotiations to purchase the 715-room area. His purchase was total three months later.
12. FedEx creator Frederick W. Smith conserved the shipment business with a journey to Vegas. In 1974-- three years after a fantastic read 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. His, er, gamble gave the company enough money to survive.
13. Do not disrupt: Vegas has more unlisted contact number than other city in the United States.
14. Reason to hope? Nevada law states that video fruit machine must pay back a minimum of 75 percent of the cash deposited on average. (Though it's worth noting that in New Jersey, the home of gambling mecca 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. until midnight. Not surprising that some 10,000 couples wed in the city each month.
16. Let them consume ... shrimp mixed drinks? 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 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 needed to be shrunk down. In contrast, the Luxor Las Vegas' Sphinx is actually larger than the initial 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 distinct gold color of the windows at the Mirage Hotel originates from real gold dust.
20. There are 3933 guest spaces at Bellagio Las Vegas-- more than the variety of citizens in the city of Bellagio, Italy.
21. Not into casinos? The city also features a heavy equipment play area where building lovers can drive around bulldozers for fun.
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.
At Vegas diner Heart Attack Grill, waitresses dress in nurses garb and patrons can purchase an 8000-calorie quadruple bypass burger with a side of flatliner fries. In 2013, one of the spot's regular clients passed away ... from an evident heart attack.
24. From external area, the Las Vegas Strip looks like the brightest spot on Earth. Who cares if it's not actually in Las Vegas?
Most of Vegas' iconic hotels aren't technically situated in the city of Las Vegas. An excellent part of the Las Vegas Strip-- and the famous "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign-- are actually located in an unincorporated municipality called Paradise, Nevada.
One destination that is within Las Vegas city limitations: Vegas Vic, the large neon cowboy that presides over downtown's well known Fremont Street. The strip's Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel and Casino got its name from founder-- and famous mobster-- Bugsy Siegel's sweetheart. 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.