It was named by Rafael Rivera in 1821. The Spanish pioneer laid out the Old Spanish Trail, and he was the first European to set foot into Las Vegas territory.
He called the spacious fields Las Vegas because of its sprawling fields of vibrant grass nourished by abundant local springs.
Despite the desert landscape it’s known for today, Las Vegas was once a natural oasis filled with rolling green hills. The springs were dried up by groundwater pumping, and now, 90% of the city’s water comes from Lake Mead.
Thousands of years before humans arrived, the Las Vegas valley was once so verdant that it attracted now-extinct animals like the Shasta Ground Sloth and Columbian Mammoth.
How can the city’s most famous attraction not even be in it? Well, it all comes down to a geographic technicality. Instead of being in Las Vegas proper, The Strip is actually in Clark County, Nevada, with the majority located in the aptly named Paradise township.
Although it may not technically be a part of Las Vegas, The Strip remains as one of America’s leading tourist attractions and generates billions of dollars in revenue for the state of Nevada each year.
The Las Vegas Strip has around 30 hotels and casinos lining its path, and their enormous signage and neon lights make them the brightest spot on the planet. NASA published an image taken by astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) showing just how magnificently bright The Strip looks from above Earth.
The Las Vegas Strip even tops Hong Kong, the world’s brightest city, thanks to its concentrated display of lights. If there’s ever a place you’d need sunglasses after the sun sets, it’s probably The Strip.
Las Vegas is a dry city, receiving just 4 inches of rainfall each year on average. The rain only tends to fall for about 26 days out of the entire year, and it’s most common during February.
With such little rain, you might be wondering how the city can flood. This is due to water draining into the Las Vegas Wash, a 12-mile-long river that leads into Lake Mead.
If you visit Las Vegas during its rainy season, make sure you exercise caution and avoid heading out when there is heavy rain or flood advisories.
Luckily, the city is relatively rain-free throughout the year, and you can enjoy your visit without having to worry.
At 1,149 feet, The Strat is the tallest observation tower in the United States and the second tallest free-standing structure west of the Mississippi River
The classic shrimp cocktail is a Las Vegas staple, and seafood buffets are common throughout the city. People in Vegas love shellfish so much that they reportedly consume 60,000 pounds — or 30 tons — per day. That’s more than the entire country collectively eats in an entire year!
While no source has definitively proven just how much shellfish is consumed every 24 hours, there are many outlets that report similar figures.
Why are so many people crazy about shellfish in Sin City? One, seafood is a luxury, and no one does the glamorous lifestyle quite like Las Vegas. It’s all part of the package when you visit upscale hotels and restaurants throughout the city.
However, even low-key and casual family eateries often serve seafood dishes. The taste for shellfish has become a trademark of the city. So, if you’re craving a lobster roll to rival the ones found in Maine, there’s no better place to do it than Las Vegas.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan area is the most densely populated in the state with a population of more than 1.6 million
A lot of people who get married in Vegas elope. In fact, there are dozens of walk-in wedding venues that let you tie the knot at the drop of a hat. You can get married by an Elvis impersonator, become spouses in less than 10 minutes and even rent a wedding dress on the spot at some locations.
The most famous chapel is the Graceland Wedding Chapel, an LGBTQ-friendly venue that’s been in business for over 80 years. In 1977, it became the first wedding chapel on Earth to host an Elvis-themed ceremony.
Only in Vegas can you get married by “The King” as you share your first dance as a couple. There are also fresh flowers, photography and limo services on-site, so you really can put a wedding together in minutes.
There are over 15,000 miles of neon tubing within the city
In 1999, the Bellagio Hotel and Casino won a Guinness World Record for having the most fountains in any lake. There are over 1,200 fountains in the artificial lake on the property.
The lake itself holds 22 million gallons of freshwater, but a common urban myth is that it uses gray water recycled from laundry, bathtubs, showers and sinks around the city.
Later, the Bellagio was certified by Guinness World Records for its chocolate fountain, which is the largest in the world. Designed by Chef Jean-Pierre Maury, it stands 27 feet tall and circulates two tons of chocolate at a rate of 120 quarts per minute through six high-powered pumps.
You can view the chocolate fountain at the Bellagio’s very own patisserie for free.
The High Roller on Las Vegas Boulevard stands 500 feet tall and measures 520 feet across. The Ferris wheel is beloved by tourists and considered a landmark by locals. A 30-minute ride offers 360-degree views of the city, making it one of the best spots to get some amazing night photos of Sin City in all its glory. The wheel opened in 2014, and it is owned and operated to this day by Caesars Entertainment. The High Roller attracts around 5,000 passengers each day.
There is an estimation that at least 1,000 people live in the city of Vegas in underground tunnels. The vibrant lights of the strip give no idea about the city's dark side underbelly. Hundreds of homeless residents live in there.
Las Vegas receives millions of visitors each year. In 2019, approximately 42 million tourists entered Las Vegas.
Although those numbers dropped in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, the number of visitors is expected to start reaching tens of millions again soon.
Las Vegas is home to more than half of the 20 largest hotels in the world
The average occupancy rate for hotels is 88.9%
Harry Reid International Airport is the seventh busiest airport in the United States and North America
51.5 million people fly through Harry Reid International Airport annually
If you ever need a place to crash for the night, Las Vegas will likely have a spot. To help accommodate nearly 40 million annual visitors, the city houses an astonishing 150,857 hotel rooms as of 2022.
Since 2002, the number of Las Vegas hotel rooms has steadily increased by 26,587. Likewise, tourism has continually risen by millions each year. In 2022, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported 38,829,300 tourists passing through its city.
When asked visitors for reason of travel, 48% visited Las Vegas for Vacation, 5% visited Las Vegas to gamble, and 11% came to attend conventions
Being such a tourist hotspot, it's no surprise that Las Vegas is home to some of the world's biggest hotels. The Venetian takes the spot as second-largest hotel in the world, while the MGM Grand gets third place. In fact, of the 12 US hotels on the list of the 20 biggest hotels in the world, all but one are in Las Vegas.
Red Rock Canyon National Park is just a 20-minute drive from Las Vegas Boulevard, and interestingly, was Nevada's first National Conservation Area. The park is one of the most stunning National Parks in the United States and features geologically fascinating red rock mountains.
The Sphinx at the Luxor Hotel is a Nevada landmark on the strip and is a replica of the Great Sphinx in Giza, Egypt. One of the little known facts about Las Vegas is that the Luxor's sphinx is taller than the original.
The Vegas replica is about 35-feet taller than Giza's Great Sphinx. Along with adding a visit to the Luxor Sphinx to your Vegas itinerary, be sure to check out the Luxor's Pyramid, which is one of the tallest in the world.
Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort, the first permanent, non-native settlement in the Las Vegas Valley, features the historic remains of an adobe fort built by Mormon missionaries along a spring-fed creek in 1855.
The birth of Las Vegas came when the land for Golden Gate (previously Hotel Nevada) was purchased at an auction at the corner of Fremont and Main Street on May 15, 1905. The price for the prime Vegas real estate? A mere $1,750. In 1906, the first casino in Las Vegas opened its doors to the public. The local newspaper, the Las Vegas Age, published the guest register on its front page and described it as a “first-class” hotel, “as comfortable as any other hostelry found anywhere,” with “large” rooms (10’ x 10’), electric lighting, ventilation and steam-heat radiators.
On March 19, 1931, Assembly Bill 98 was signed into law by Governor Fred Balzar, making a number of games legal, and thus taking small card games and illegal betting out of back rooms and side alleys. The legislation allowed the rise of the gaming industry and the regulated modern casino we know and enjoy today.
The ghost town of St. Thomas was submerged in the 1930s by the United States Federal Government. In order to build Lake Mead, the world’s largest manmade reservoir, the U.S. had to clear out as much space as it could. This involved buying the land the town sat on and informing residents that they had to leave.
While residents were compensated for their lost property, many stayed until they were forced to leave by the rising waters. The last person to go was a man named Hugh Lord. Mr. Lord paddled his way from home.
At its peak, Lake Mead submerged the town of St. Thomas in 60 feet of water. Today, the levels have receded, and you can see remnants of the town.
St. Thomas was originally established in 1865 by settlers who mistakenly thought they were in Utah or Arizona. However, the land was not discovered by them. It belonged to ancestral Puebloan people who once had a settlement across the river from the town.
Fremont Street is a fun place to visit off of the Las Vegas strip. Being part of "Old Las Vegas," it also has a rich history. For example, Fremont Street became Vegas' first paved street in 1925. It's also home to the oldest hotel and casino in Las Vegas and was the city's first gambling hotspot.
While just 15% of people say they visit Vegas for the gambling, 71% wind up doing it, according to the 2013 Las Vegas Visitor Profile. With casinos on nearly every street, it’s easy to see why so many people want to at least try the slot machines before heading home.
Even though most people aren’t there to gamble, the average tourist spends around $761 testing their luck during their stay.
The original gambler’s legend, the story of the Phantom Gambler has spread far and wide. It comprises not only one, not two, but three legendary wagers that framed a rather sad story in the end. It serves as a reality check to the psyche of those who might be willing to risk it all.
In 1980, a gentleman strode into a Vegas casino with $770,000 ($2.7 million today) cash in a suitcase by his side. He placed it all, arguably the largest bet ever made at the time, on the toss of a dice at a craps table, won, and without much of a fuss left the casino and threw his winnings in the trunk of his car.
Four years later as the Phantom Gambler’s myth had grown, the man himself, William Lee Bergstrom, appeared again in Vegas. He went to the same Binion’s Casino, and placed a $538,000 bet ($1.3 million today) at the craps table and again won and promptly cashed in his chips and left.
A few months later, in a show of testicular fortitude, Bergstrom topped himself and made the biggest bet ever placed in a casino at the time. He again nonchalantly strode into Binion’s, and put up a $1 million bet at the craps table, but this time losing.
The real estate mogul was found a few months after losing dead from his own hand. The seeming will of iron of the man was undoubtedly fuelled by a deep depression, placing the bets only for the story and the legend. His urn inscription identified him as the “Phantom Gambler of the Horseshoe, who bet $1 million on November 16, 1984”.
"Black Book" is the nickname frequently used to refer to a list of people who are unwelcome in casinos. The name comes from the fact that the people listed are essentially blacklisted. The term can refer either to such a list officially maintained by a particular gaming control board or to the Griffin Book, whose information is shared among subscribing casinos.[1] According to technologist Jeff Jonas, "Casinos face legal and financial risk if they let the wrong people play. People with gambling addictions can place themselves on exclusionary lists, and can actually sue casinos if they are allowed to place bets."
In the case of gaming control boards, people listed are generally suspected of having, or known to have, ties to organized crime. Casinos are obliged by regulations to exclude all such people from entry and can be subject to sanctions for failure to do so.
In the Griffin Book, published by Griffin Investigations, listed individuals are generally suspected of being, or known to be, either advantage players or outright cheaters at the casino games themselves. Thus, casinos find it in their own economic best interest to exclude such individuals. Those listed may be anyone perceived as a threat to the casino's profits, whether through legal means, such as card counters, or through illegal means, such as people who mark cards or those who try to cheat slot machines. Also included are those considered a threat to the casino, such as players the casinos simply believe are winning either too much or too often, even if their exact methodology is unknown. The book keeps pictures obtained either from a photo of the individual when detained or simply questioned and released, or from surveillance photos. At least one successful defamation lawsuit has been brought as a result of the Griffin Book.
Gambling and Las Vegas are an iconic duo. Ask most people what comes to mind when they hear Las Vegas, and it will likely be slot machines or a casino. While the city previously held the crown for the world’s most profitable gambling city, the title passed on to Macau in 2019.
That year, gambling revenue was six times higher in Macau than Las Vegas! In 2022, Las Vegas earned $8.2 billion from casinos, a 17% increase from 2021. That same year, Macau reported $5.24 billion in earnings.
The number seven is lucky in America, and 13 is considered bad luck. In many Asian cultures, it’s the number four you have to watch out for. To respect this, some hotels skip the figure altogether.
Most notably, the Wynn is missing a fourth floor and all hotel numbers in the 40s. The same goes for its sister property, the Encore. Many Asian-themed lodgings will also leave out this number, so don’t be alarmed if you realize there's a button absent in the elevator.
Another of the interesting facts about Las Vegas, Nevada, is that with approximately 164,000 slot machines in the city of about 635,000 residents, there's one slot machine per every four people that live there.
Red Rock Casino has the most slot machines of any Las Vegas hotel and casino, but you can find slot machines to try your luck at in most Vegas casinos.
Located downtown in Symphony Park, ranked 10th among theater venues throughout the world for ticket sales.
With over 32 million visitors per year, Vegas is one of most popular tourist destinations in the world. In addition to world-class hotels, dining, and entertainment, Las Vegas has become a premier destination for doing international business and gets over 2 million convention visitors annually. Before the pandemic hit over 3.5M people attended conventions, but things are starting to get back to normal now with most of the major conventions, like the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) back in business.
