60 Fun Facts About Las Vegas

What does the Spanish name 'Las Vegas' mean in English?

The name described the fertile lowlands around natural springs that travellers on the Old Spanish Trail found in the desert.

Las Vegas is the county seat of which Nevada county?

It is the most populous city in the state, though most of the famous casinos technically sit outside the city limits.

Which unincorporated town holds most of the Las Vegas Strip, which lies outside the city?

A 1950 attempt by the city's mayor to annex the Strip failed, and casino owners have kept it in county territory ever since.

Guy McAfee nicknamed Las Vegas Boulevard's casino row after which road in Los Angeles?

Guy McAfee ran the Pair-o-Dice Club, the first casino on the highway, and borrowed the name from Hollywood.

In what year did Nevada legalise casino gambling and cut divorce residency to six weeks?

The same year saw construction begin on the Hoover Dam tunnels, bringing thousands of workers to the area.

Las Vegas was founded as a city in 1905 when land was auctioned beside what?

The 110 acres beside the Union Pacific line became downtown, and the city was formally incorporated in 1911.

Which religious group built a fort at Las Vegas in 1855 on the road between Salt Lake City and California?

The fort was abandoned in 1857, and its remains still stand at Las Vegas Boulevard and Washington Avenue.

Downtown's Fremont Street is named after which American explorer?

The street was home to a string of Las Vegas firsts, including its first hotel in 1906 and its first telephone in 1907.

The Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign was designed in 1959 by whom?

She never copyrighted the design, calling it her gift to the city, which is why it appears on so much merchandise.

The white circles across the top of the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign represent what?

They are a nod to Nevada's nickname, the Silver State.

The Hoover Dam sits on the Colorado River on the border between Nevada and which other state?

It was dedicated by Franklin Roosevelt in 1935 and finished more than two years ahead of schedule.

What is the name of the vast reservoir created by the Hoover Dam?

It is the largest reservoir in the United States by water capacity, up to 112 miles long when full.

The town built to house Hoover Dam workers, about 30 miles from Las Vegas, is called what?

President Hoover ordered dam work to start early, so the town was still being built while construction began.

Which mobster took over the building of the Flamingo, which opened in December 1946?

The project had been started by Billy Wilkerson, founder of The Hollywood Reporter, and its budget ballooned from $1 million to $6 million.

The Flamingo's mob builder was shot dead in June 1947 in whose Beverly Hills mansion?

His partners believed he or his girlfriend had skimmed about $1 million from the Flamingo's construction budget.

Which billionaire moved into the Desert Inn in 1966, refused to leave, and simply bought the hotel?

He went on to buy the Sands, Frontier, Silver Slipper, Castaways and Landmark too, helping push the mob out of Vegas ownership.

Which resort's name deliberately has no apostrophe, so that every guest could feel like an emperor?

It opened in 1966 with a loan from the Teamsters pension fund, and Evel Knievel famously crashed jumping its fountains on New Year's Eve 1967.

Which stuntman crashed jumping the fountains of a Roman-themed Strip resort on December 31, 1967?

He convinced owner Jay Sarno he could clear 140 feet, hit the top of the safety ramp and landed in the Dunes car park with a fractured pelvis.

Steve Wynn's 1989 Strip megaresort was famous for what free attraction out front?

Its success set off the 1990s building boom; the resort closed in July 2024 to be rebuilt as Hard Rock Las Vegas.

Which magic duo headlined at Wynn's volcano-fronted resort from 1990 until a tiger attack ended their show?

The German-born pair had given 5,750 performances with their white lions and white tigers when Roy Horn was critically injured on stage.

The Bellagio, opened in 1998, is themed after a village on which Italian lake?

Steve Wynn built it on the site of the old Dunes, and its fountains use 1,214 nozzles to shoot water up to 460 feet.

The Luxor pyramid's tip fires a beam into the night sky. How is that beam described?

The 30-storey pyramid, opened in 1993, also contains the world's largest atrium by volume.

The Eiffel Tower replica at Paris Las Vegas is built at what scale?

It rises about 540 feet, and the resort also copies the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre and the Paris Opera House.

When the MGM Grand opened in 1993 with more than 5,000 rooms, its dominant theme was which film?

It was the largest hotel in the world at the time; the Oz theming was stripped out in a renovation that began in 1996.

The 1980 fire at the original MGM Grand (the Horseshoe since 2022) killed how many people?

Most of the 85 died from smoke inhalation in the hotel tower, and the disaster led to sweeping changes in fire safety codes. The property became Bally's in 1986 and the Horseshoe in 2022.

The Excalibur was the world's largest hotel when it opened in 1990. What is its theme?

Its designers toured European castles for ideas, and it held the size record only until the MGM Grand opened three years later.

The Venetian was built on the site of which demolished Rat Pack-era casino?

Sheldon Adelson opened it in 1999 with canals and gondola rides; the old resort had hosted Sinatra and the Rat Pack in its Copa Room.

At 1,149 feet, what distinction does the spire at The Strat hold?

Only Toronto's CN Tower is taller in the Western Hemisphere; the top holds a revolving restaurant and thrill rides.

The Fremont Street Experience, opened in 1995, is best known for what overhead feature?

The barrel-vault canopy runs about four blocks, and every show starts by switching off all the casino lights beneath it.

Vegas Vic, the neon cowboy erected in 1951, waves from the front of which downtown casino?

The winking, cigarette-smoking figure was a break from text-based neon signs and became a symbol of the city.

Downtown's oldest casino displays the Hand of Faith in its lobby. What is it?

The casino opened in 1946 and was the launchpad for Steve Wynn, who became its majority owner in 1973.

The Sphere, opened in 2023, was launched with a residency by which band?

The building's exterior carries about 580,000 square feet of LED screens, the largest such display in the world.

The High Roller Ferris wheel opened in 2014 as the tallest in the world. How tall is it?

It lost the title to Ain Dubai in 2021 and remains the centrepiece of Caesars Entertainment's LINQ promenade.

Which pianist, once the world's highest-paid entertainer, made Las Vegas his principal venue?

His flamboyant, candelabra-topped act became his hallmark and inspired the costumes of Siegfried & Roy.

The Rat Pack of Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. is most associated with which Strip hotel?

The group filmed the original Ocean's 11 in Las Vegas in 1960 while performing there at night.

Elvis Presley's 1969 Las Vegas engagement, 57 shows in four weeks, was at which new resort?

It boasted the largest showroom in the city, and Elvis had married Priscilla two years earlier in a suite at the Aladdin.

Wayne Newton's signature song, later used in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, is which?

The 1963 hit earned him the nickname Mr. Las Vegas over decades of residencies.

Which NHL expansion team, founded in 2017, was the first major-league franchise in Las Vegas?

They reached the Stanley Cup Final in their very first season and won it in their sixth, the fastest expansion team ever to do so.

The Raiders arrived in Las Vegas in 2020 from which city?

They play at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, nicknamed the Death Star for its black exterior.

Super Bowl LVIII, the first played in Las Vegas, was won in overtime by which team?

The 25-22 game at Allegiant Stadium was only the second overtime Super Bowl in history.

The Las Vegas Aces won back-to-back WNBA titles in which two years?

They were the first team to repeat since the Los Angeles Sparks in 2001 and 2002.

Formula One returned to Las Vegas in November 2023 for the first time since when?

The modern race is run at night on a street circuit that includes part of the Strip, under a deal through 2037.

The World Series of Poker traces its origin to a 1970 tournament at whose Horseshoe casino?

Seven players took part and the winner was chosen by secret ballot; the Main Event became a Texas hold 'em freeze-out the next year.

The 2003 WSOP Main Event winner whose name seemed made for the job, and who qualified online, was who?

His win through a PokerStars satellite is credited with setting off the online poker boom.

The Mob Museum, opened in 2012, is housed in what kind of former building?

The federal government sold the 1933 building to the city for one dollar on condition it was restored.

Las Vegas's airport, formerly McCarran, was renamed in 2021 after which senator?

It is one of the few US airports with slot machines in its terminals.

In Ocean's Eleven (2001), the crew robs the shared vault of the Bellagio, the MGM Grand and which third casino?

The target was $160 million belonging to Terry Benedict, and the crew built a full replica of the vault to rehearse.

Martin Scorsese's 1995 film Casino is based on the real story of which mob-connected casino executive?

He ran the Stardust and other casinos for the Chicago Outfit from 1968 to 1981; Joe Pesci's character is based on enforcer Anthony Spilotro.

Which boxer appears as himself in The Hangover, the 2009 comedy about a Las Vegas bachelor party?

The tiger in his mansion was added in a rewrite after the original script was bought for $2 million.

Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas follows Raoul Duke and his attorney, known by what name?

The 1971 book gave its name to the gonzo journalism style, and Ralph Steadman's ink drawings illustrated it.

A Little White Wedding Chapel is famous for offering what for couples in a hurry?

Its owner has married Frank Sinatra, Michael Jordan, Britney Spears and Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, among many others.

CES has been a Las Vegas January fixture since 1978. Where was the first show held in 1967?

For years it ran twice annually, with a summer show in Chicago, until Las Vegas became the sole home in 1995.

Area 51, about 83 miles north of Las Vegas, was acquired in 1955 to test which aircraft?

The base is officially called Homey Airport or Groom Lake, after the salt flat beside its runway.

Owing to its large Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander population, Las Vegas is nicknamed what?

Around 22,000 Native Hawaiians live in the metro area, and cheap flights and Hawaiian-friendly casinos keep the connection strong.

Nevada joined the Union on October 31, 1864, earning which nickname?

It became the 36th state during the Civil War; it is also officially the Silver State and, from its native plant, the Sagebrush State.

Las Vegas sits on the floor of which desert?

Its elevation of about 2,030 ft gives it markedly cooler winters than lower parts of the desert.

Which Mexican trader led a 60-man party along the Old Spanish Trail past the future Las Vegas in 1829?

A young scout in his party, Rafael Rivera, is credited as the first non-Native person to see the valley.

Nuclear testing 65 miles away earned Las Vegas which 1950s nickname?

Visitors watched mushroom clouds until the 1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty moved tests underground.

Which hotel, opened in 1955, was the first racially integrated casino-hotel in Las Vegas?

It opened the same decade Nellis Air Force Base got its name and the Thunderbirds made it home.

What is the highest temperature officially recorded in Las Vegas, set on July 7, 2024?

July 2024 was also the city's hottest month on record, with a mean daily average of 99.9 °F.