Located in the Mojave Desert, North America's driest desert, Las Vegas was founded in 1905. With its vast number of casinos, vibrant nightlife, shopping, gambling, and other luxurious attractions, the city has earned the nickname "Sin City" and is considered the "Entertainment Capital of the World." However, due to its popularity and luxury, the city often overshadows other interesting facts. So, here are ten interesting facts about Las Vegas that we're sure you'll enjoy.
1. Las Vegas is the most vibrant city on Earth.
Las Vegas is known for its nightlife, which keeps the city well-lit all night long. According to Joanna Duffek, communications and education coordinator for the International Dark-Sky Association, Las Vegas is the brightest city on Earth when viewed from space, despite being sparsely populated. Shanghai is the only other city that is as brightly lit, despite being much more densely populated than Vegas. (1, 2, 3)
2. 13 of the world's 25 largest hotels are located on the Las Vegas Strip.
«The Las Vegas Strip is a section of South Las Vegas Boulevard, approximately 4.2 miles (6.8 kilometers) long. The Strip is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The largest of these are The Venetian and The Palazzo, with 7,117 rooms and 53 floors. The second largest is the MGM Grand and The Signature, with 6,852 rooms. The third largest is City Center, with 6,790 rooms. (1, 2)
3. Most of Las Vegas' iconic hotels, as well as the famous welcome sign, are located outside the official city limits and are part of the suburban communities of Paradise, Winchester, and Enterprise.
The name "Las Vegas" is often used to refer to a broad area, particularly neighborhoods located near the Las Vegas Strip, which are not strictly speaking within the city limits. Also, although the Las Vegas Strip is simply the area between Sahara Avenue and Russell Road (two roads in the Las Vegas Valley), the term is used to refer not only to all the properties along the road but also to various properties located beyond it. Various neighborhoods of Las Vegas proper are actually located in the unincorporated communities of Paradise, Winchester, and Enterprise. (1, 2)
4. In Las Vegas, there is a bus called the "Hangover Paradise" that travels around the city and helps people with hangovers by giving them intravenous water and vitamins.
«Hangover Paradise is a mobile medical clinic that uses treatment methods developed by its founder, Dr. Jason Burke, to help people with hangovers. The clinic provides treatment both on its bus and in its hospital setting, including intravenous fluids and the "Myers Cocktail"—a combination of B vitamins, vitamin C, calcium, and magnesium. The clinic also offers various other treatments, such as vitamin B12 injections, intravenous B-complex, vitamin C replacement therapy, and glutathione replacement therapy. (source)
5. Only a few fragments of the Berlin Wall remain in the men's room at the Main Street Station casino in Las Vegas.
Between 1990 and 1992, the Berlin Wall, which had divided West Berlin, East Berlin, and East Germany from 1961 to 1989, was dismantled. It took 65 cranes, 175 trucks, and 13 bulldozers to dismantle the 204-ton monument, and more than 40,000 of its segments were crushed for use as road construction material.
The remaining surviving fragments were sold at auction as works of art and acquired or donated to numerous museums and institutions around the world. Several graffitied fragments ended up in the men's restrooms at Main Street Station, a casino, a brewery, and a hotel in Las Vegas. Protected by glass, these fragments have become a popular attraction, and women also visit the Wall, accompanied by a security guard when the restrooms are empty. (source)
6. Being intoxicated in public is not a crime in Las Vegas. Nevada state law specifically prohibits counties, cities, or towns from making it a misdemeanor.
Unlike other US states, Nevada does not consider public intoxication a crime when it comes to penalties for public intoxication. The legal definition of public intoxication in Nevada states: "The consumption of alcohol, the state of intoxication, and the mere fact of being intoxicated are not public offenses and shall not be treated as such in any ordinance or resolution of a county, city, or town.".
However, offenses that people are likely to commit while intoxicated, such as disturbing the peace, trespassing, drunk driving, urinating in public places, or having open containers of alcohol (usually if these containers are accessible to drivers in vehicles), are considered punishable by law. (source)
7. Las Vegas has a "heavy equipment park" where you can ride bulldozers and excavators in a fun way.
For anyone 14 years of age or older and under 122 cm tall, there's a heavy equipment play area called "Dig This," where you can playfully operate bulldozers and excavators for 90 minutes to three hours. Before the session, you must pass a blood alcohol test and a safety briefing. Afterward, specialists conduct a brief training session, where they teach you how to operate the equipment. Once you've mastered the skills and proven your proficiency, you'll receive an official certificate of completion. (source)
8. All government buildings and public facilities in Las Vegas run on renewable energy.
In Las Vegas, near Boulder City, is a 100-megawatt solar power plant called "Boulder Solar 1." Since launching the project in 2008 and investing over $40 million, the city has reduced emissions from energy production by 30 percent. Government buildings, streetlights, and parks are powered by the plant's energy. Installing solar panels on city buildings has also helped the city save at least $5 million annually. (source)
9. There is a semi-secret underground city in Las Vegas, home to about a thousand people.
Beneath Las Vegas, 200 miles of tunnels are filled with makeshift dwellings furnished with beds, closets, and even bookshelves. The underground dwellings include the homeless, the poor, low-wage workers, beggars, and even drug addicts. There are also many war veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Many of them survive by committing "credit fraud" at casinos, searching for abandoned chips and discarded items. Over the years, the underground has become a community of beggars. (source)
10. In the 1950s, one of the main attractions of Las Vegas was watching atomic bomb tests, and the city was advertised as "Atomic City.".
About 100 kilometers northwest of Las Vegas, the US Department of Energy conducted above-ground tests of thousands of atomic devices for years. This began in 1951, when a warhead was tested, and tourists could view the resulting mushroom cloud right in the city. Several casinos, such as Binion's Horseshoe and the Desert Inn, even offered special "atomic cocktails" and "sunrise parties" where people danced and enjoyed the explosions during the tests. In those days, the city even crowned "Miss Atomic Bomb." In 1963, after the Cuban Missile Crisis, above-ground nuclear testing was banned, putting an end to it. (source)