50 Fun Facts About Las Vegas Strip

Roughly how long is the Las Vegas Strip?

In the strictest sense it runs from Sahara Avenue to the Welcome sign.

The Strip lies just outside the Las Vegas city limits in which two unincorporated towns?

Casino executives lobbied for town status in 1950 to stop the city annexing them for tax revenue.

As of 2019, roughly how many pedestrians walked the Strip on an average day?

Footbridges went up in the 1990s to keep them off the busiest intersections.

Which resort does Clark County consider the northern end of the Strip?

Travel guides usually extend it 0.4 miles further north to the Strat, which is inside city limits.

What was the first full-service casino resort on what became the Strip, opened in 1941?

It opened with 63 bungalow rooms and its success spawned the Last Frontier a year later.

What was Las Vegas Boulevard South previously called?

It was also known as the Arrowhead Highway or the Los Angeles Highway.

Guy McAfee named the boulevard's casino row after which street in his hometown of Los Angeles?

McAfee was a Los Angeles police officer turned businessman.

Which mobster financed the completion of the Flamingo with mob money?

He took over the $1 million project and drove the final cost to $6 million.

Who originally proposed the Flamingo before the mob took it over?

He founded The Hollywood Reporter and bought the land in 1945.

What distinction does the Flamingo hold among Strip resorts?

It was the third resort to open on the Strip; its casino opened on 26 December 1946.

Which musical duo held an 11-year residency at the Flamingo that ended in 2019?

The resort also keeps live flamingos in a wildlife habitat by its 15-acre pool area.

In what year was the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign erected?

It was built for $4,000 by Western Neon.

Who designed the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign?

She never copyrighted it, saying it would not have been used as much if she had.

What message is written on the north-facing side of the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign?

The white circles across the top represent silver dollars, a nod to the Silver State.

The design of the Welcome sign is characteristic of which architectural movement?

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.

With about 191,000 residents, where does Paradise rank among US census-designated places by population?

If it were incorporated it would be the fifth-largest city in Nevada.

Which Flamingo executive led the casino owners' campaign for town status in 1950?

Mayor Ernie Cragin had wanted to annex the Strip to fund his building agenda.

Caesars Palace opened in 1966 with which billionaire as its landlord?

Jay Sarno and Stanley Mallin created it to evoke life in the Roman Empire.

Which stunt performer crashed jumping the Caesars Palace fountains on 31 December 1967?

He flew over his handlebars into the Dunes parking lot and fractured his pelvis.

Which game was Frank Sinatra playing at Caesars in 1970 when an executive pulled a gun on him?

He wanted to bet beyond the $8,000 he was already playing per hand and stormed out when refused.

The Colosseum at Caesars Palace was specially built for which singer's 2003 show?

Her show A New Day... ran on a 22,450-square-foot stage in the 4,296-seat theatre.

How many seats does the Sphere have?

Total capacity is 20,000, and the wraparound interior screen is 16K resolution.

Kerkorian's International Hotel, opened in 1969 with 1,512 rooms, was renamed what in 2014?

It is credited with beginning the era of the mega-resort; it was the Las Vegas Hilton from 1971 to 2012 before the 2014 rename.

How many people died in the 1980 fire at the original MGM Grand in Las Vegas?

The hotel reopened eight months later and was later renamed Bally's.

Which resort's 1989 opening is regarded as the start of the mega-resort era?

It cost $630 million, then a world record, and featured a volcano that erupted nightly.

Which magic duo performed at Steve Wynn's volcano-fronted resort for nearly 14 years from 1990?

The same resort hosted Cirque du Soleil's first Las Vegas show, Nouvelle Expérience, in 1992.

When the volcano-fronted resort closed in July 2024, what name was it slated to reopen under?

Hard Rock International became the first tribal gaming operator on the Strip when it took over the Mirage.

Which Cirque du Soleil show, launched at Treasure Island in 1993, is the company's longest-running?

Treasure Island's lagoon staged free pirate battles daily for two decades.

How much did the Bellagio cost to build, making it the world's most expensive resort in 1998?

It replaced the Dunes and was originally planned as a French-themed resort called Beau Rivage.

The Bellagio is themed after a village on the shores of which lake?

Steve Wynn switched from a French theme to the Italian village in 1995.

How high can the Fountains of Bellagio shoot water?

The show uses 1,214 nozzles and 4,792 lights on an 8.5-acre lake.

Which design firm built the Fountains of Bellagio and later the Dubai Fountain?

The Bellagio show was the world's largest fountain show until Dubai's opened in 2009.

Which historic hotel was imploded in 1996 to make way for the Venetian?

Frank Sinatra made his Vegas performing debut there in October 1953.

Which 1960 caper film was shot at the Rat Pack's home resort, cementing its image?

The hotel's Copa Room hosted Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.

Which billionaire bought the Rat Pack's home resort in 1967, his first of several Vegas hotels?

Sheldon Adelson later bought it, shut it and built the Venetian.

Which 1958 resort, then the world's largest hotel, was famed for Lefty Rosenthal's sportsbook?

Skimming investigations in 1976 and 1983 inspired the film Casino; Resorts World now stands on the site.

The Tropicana was demolished in 2024 to make way for a stadium for which MLB team?

A new Bally's resort and the ballpark are due to open for the 2028 season.

Circus Circus opened in 1968 without what?

It struggled financially until a 15-story, 409-room tower was added in 1972.

The Luxor pyramid's tip fires what into the night sky?

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

What was the Luxor's temporary code name before it was announced in 1991?

An indoor Nile River ride was removed when the Egyptian theme was scaled back in the 1990s.

Which castle-themed resort was the world's largest hotel from 1990 until the MGM Grand opened?

Its Tournament of Kings is the longest-running dinner show on the Strip.

The current MGM Grand opened in 1993 with a theme based on which film?

It opened with more than 5,000 rooms and its own 33-acre theme park.

How many storeys tall is New York-New York's replica Empire State Building?

It stands 529 feet and has the Big Apple Coaster running around it.

Wynn Las Vegas was built on the site of which classic resort, opened in 1950?

At $2.7 billion it was the most expensive resort ever built when it opened in 2005.

How tall is the replica Eiffel Tower at Paris Las Vegas?

It is half the size of the original, and the resort also has an Arc de Triomphe and a Louvre facade.

How tall is the observation tower at the Strat, the tallest in the United States?

Bob Stupak wanted 1,825 feet to be the world's tallest free-standing structure, but the FAA and city said no.

When the High Roller opened in 2014, which wheel did it beat to become the world's tallest?

At 550 feet it was 9 feet taller; Ain Dubai overtook it in 2021.

Which band opened the Sphere in September 2023 with a 40-show residency?

The $2.3 billion venue's exterior carries 580,000 square feet of LED displays, the largest in the world.

Mandalay Bay opened in 1999 on the site of which former hotel-casino?

Its Four Seasons became the first Las Vegas hotel to win the AAA Five Diamond Award.

Which Vegas fixture did the Strip's very first resort popularise in the 1940s?

A 1960 fire of undetermined cause destroyed the main building and closed the resort.