Fab FAQs

Here are some little known fun facts and trivia about the world’s most spectacular meeting, convention, fun, and event destination: Fabulous Las Vegas!

  1. There’s a “new kid in town!” Belinda Maguire opens her new “Destination Fabulous” DMC on Monday, Sept. 8, 2014. Now that’s historic!
  2. When Paul Anka played Vegas, he was too young to be allowed in the casino.
  3. Bugsy Siegel named his casino “The Flamingo,” after the long, shapely legs of his girlfriend, Virginia Hill.
  4. The first hotel/casino on what was to become the “Strip,” wasn’t the Flamingo; it was the El Rancho Vegas, across from the new SLS Resort & Casino (formerly The Sahara Hotel & Casino).
  5. In Nevada, it’s mandatory that video slot machines pay a minimum of 75% on average.
  6. “Vegas Vic”, the huge animated cowboy on Fremont Street, is the world’s largest mechanical neon sign.
  7. Billionaire recluse Howard Hughes stayed at the Desert Inn so long that he was asked to leave the hotel. So he simply bought it.
  8. Camels were used as pack animals in Nevada as late as the 1870s.
  9. More than 40 million people visit Las Vegas each year.
  10. Seventeen of the 20 biggest hotels in the world are in Las Vegas.
  11. Gambling was legalized in Las Vegas in 1931.
  12. The Stratosphere Hotel & Tower, at more than 1,100 feet, is the tallest building west of the Mississippi and the fifth tallest structure in the United States.
  13. The Las Vegas Strip isn’t really in Las Vegas. It’s actually in Clark County.
  14. The famous “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign was created in 1959 by graphic artist Betty Willis.
  15. Hoover Dam was completed in 1935. It took 21,000 workers more than five years to build it.
  16. The City of Las Vegas was incorporated on May 15, 1905 when 110 acres of land in downtown Las Vegas was auctioned off.
  17. The original sign over Fremont Street read: “The Gateway to Boulder Dam.”
  18. Las Vegas is 2,001 ft. above sea level.
  19. The current population of Clark County (as of the 2010 census) is 1,951,269
  20. As of 2010, Las Vegas boasted 148,935 hotel and motel rooms.
  21. McCarran International Airport is the 8th busiest in the world, averaging 980 flights per day.
  22. In 2010, 4.4 million people attended more than 18,000 conventions in Las Vegas.
  23. The average temperature is 66.3 degrees Fahrenheit with an average yearly rainfall of 4.13 inches.
  24. Mt. Charleston is just 35 miles away and rises to an elevation of 11,918 feet.
  25. The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) has more than 20,000 full and part-time students.
  26. The area boasts more than 30 golf courses, two water parks, ice skating, and eight bowling centers.
  27. The sprawling Las Vegas Convention Center offers 3.2 million sq. ft. of total space.
  28. The stunning Smith Center for the Performing Arts is America’s newest and most lavish concert hall, playing host to major symphonies, top performing artists, and Broadway shows.
  29. The 123,000-seat Las Vegas Motor Speedway hosts NASCAR racing, drag races, and is the home to Insomniac’s Electric Daisy Carnival, one of the world’s largest music festivals.
  30. Belinda Maguire unveils Destination Fabulous 2.0 on Friday, August 11, 2017 as a preemptive strike to Apple’s iPhone 8 launch. How do you like them apples?