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Why Visit Las Vegas? Check out These 10 Crazy Facts
Everyone knows that Las Vegas is referred to as ‘Sin City’ because of the gambling and other supposedly ‘nefarious’ activities, but did you know that much of what you hear is just rumor? The facts behind some of those awful stories you hear about loose women and rowdy behaviors are exactly that, stories! On the flip side, there are some really interesting family activities that you may never hear about in the press. Here are 10 crazy facts about Las Vegas that you may never have heard but are kind of funny and very, very interesting.
1. Chocolate Is a Sure Winner Every Time!
People may visit Las Vegas to try their luck at some of the biggest and most famous casinos in the world, but did you know that there is one kid-friendly activity in Las Vegas that sees as many visitors, if not more, than some of those grand casinos? Hershey’s Chocolate World Las Vegas is part chocolate museum and part confectioner where you can buy famous Hershey’s chocolate or other souvenirs from your visit in Las Vegas.
2. Are Those Rats We Hear?
When walking on the streets of Vegas looking at the sights and doing a bit of window shopping you may hear some sounds emanating from the ground underneath you. Are those rats we hear? No, don’t worry. There is said to be more than 1,000 people who have made their home in tunnels under the very streets those grandiose hotels are built on.
3. When Gambling Infiltrated Local Hospitals
The city’s slogan is ‘What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas’ but events in 1980 made world news. Several hospital workers were put on suspension from their jobs when news was leaked that they were actually placing bets on when hospital patients would die. One lady was even investigated because word leaked out that she actually caused the death she bet on. Did she? The news is unclear if she was ever prosecuted or found guilty.
4. How Many Hotels Did You Say There Are?
Have you ever wondered why it’s so hard to find just the right hotel in Las Vegas? Consider this crazy fact! If you were to stay in a different hotel every day of the week, every week of the year for 7 straight years, you probably would not have hit the same hotel twice. Now that’s a lot of hotels!
5. Betting on FedEx?
There was a time in the history of FedEx that the owner and CEO, Frederick W. Smith, couldn’t pay the power bill so he took money from the company’s coffers to gamble on the strip. His winnings paid back the money he ‘borrowed’ and also the $24k electric bill with extra left over to spare Now, that’s crazy.
6. Ladies of the Night Need to Stay in the Dark!
There have been rumors over the past couple decades that prostitution is legal in Las Vegas and that government sponsors regular health checkups to make sure they remain disease free in order to renew their ‘license to practice.’ Where anyone ever got this information is anyone’s guess, but it is simply not true. Prostitution is as illegal in Las Vegas as it is anywhere else in the USA.
7. Is That Planet Earth We See?
When viewed from a satellite orbiting the earth, did you know that Las Vegas is the brightest light seen from above? With all the casinos and hotels lining the strip, it is so bright that nothing else viewed from the sky is even closely as bright as the Las Vegas nighttime sky.
8. That Is One Big Lion
Tourists take pictures of that mammoth lion that is outside one of Vegas’ most popular hotels, the MGM Grand but probably don’t realize just how big that king of the jungle truly is. Weighing in at 50 tons, that stately MGM bronze lion is actually the largest bronze statue of anywhere on earth.
9. This Does Not Compute
Survey after survey indicate that only 15% of people who visit Las Vegas are there to gamble – or so they say. However, the numbers tell another story altogether. If only 15% come there to gamble, why do 71% actually end up at the casinos? There seems to be a problem with someone’s arithmetic – this does not compute!
10. Adult Playground Not What You Think
When you hear the adult playground in Las Vegas advertised, it isn’t what you are probably thinking. So Dig This, there is a heavy equipment playground in Las Vegas where visitors get to test drive heavy machinery that is used within the construction industry.
So these 10 crazy facts about Sin City indicate that maybe it isn’t as sinful as advertising would have us believe. If you are planning a trip to Vegas, keep these interesting and crazy facts in hand. It makes for a pretty interesting trip, wouldn’t you say?
