History of Las Vegas

Transcription

1 By Emmet

2 Introduction Did you know that Las Vegas Avenue, which is also referred to as The Strip, is 4.2 miles long? That s about the same as walking around Park Day School 25 times. Las Vegas is known as a tourist destination. Las Vegas has 350 hotels, such as Caesars Palace, the Bellagio, and Flamingo, all of which are both hotels and casinos.

3 History of Las Vegas The history of Las Vegas is very interesting. Rafael Rivera, a Mexican trader, became the first non-indian to set foot in there in 1829, but Las Vegas was mostly empty for a long time after that. In 1931, the population skyrocketed from about 8,000 to 25,000 when workers were brought in to build the Hoover Dam. After that, the US military built a base there. Things changed again when Bugsy Siegel, a Jewish-American gangster, arrived. He made Las Vegas what it is today. He knew that gambling was legal in Nevada, so he built a hotel (The Flamingo) with a casino in it. It opened in The next year, Bugsy was murdered by other mobsters. By 1954, over 8 million people were visiting Las Vegas every year, now it s over 39 million. At first, Las Vegas was very racist and African-Americans weren t welcomed in casinos, but that changed in 1960.

4 Major Casinos and the Strip Las Vegas is known for its major casinos and hotels such as Bellagio, Luxor, Flamingo, New York-New York, ect. The Bellagio opened on October 17 th, The Bellagio in Italy inspired the Bellagio Las Vegas. It includes an eight-acre lake, 3,933 rooms, 10,000 employees, and a synchronized dancing water fountain. The Bellagio is known for its elegance and that s why it won an AAA five-diamond award. The Luxor opened October 5 th, It is the second largest hotel/casino in Las Vegas. The Luxor has an Egyptian theme. It is 120,000 square feet. It has 36 floors, and 4,037 rooms.

5 The Flamingo opened December 26, It was the 3rd hotel/casino built on the Strip, and it has 3,626 rooms. Caesars Palace opened August 5, It has 3,348 rooms. It was built in 1966 and cost $35,000,000 dollars, (which is equivalent to about $260,000,000 now). New York-New York opened January 3 rd, 1997 with a total of 2,082 rooms and a replica of the statue of liberty that s 150 feet tall. Paris opened September 1, 1999 and looks like the Eiffel tower. It has 2,915 rooms.

6 The Rat Pack and the Growth of Las Vegas Do you know what the Rat Pack is? The Rat Pack was a group of famous people/performers. The performers were Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop, and Peter Lawford. The most famous of them was Frank Sinatra. In the 1950 s, hotels were looking for ways to attract the public besides gambling. They thought that entertainment would help bring people to Las Vegas. The members of the Rat Pack signed contracts with the Sands hotel, guaranteeing that they would perform there a certain number of times each year. Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin even got percentages of the Sands hotel (meaning that they got some of the hotel s money). The Sands became the home of the Rat Pack, and lots of people came to Las Vegas to see the shows.

7 Las Vegas Today Did you know that Las Vegas has over 350 hotels and inns? Las Vegas has been expanding more since 2005, when Steve Wynn started the biggest building boom in Las Vegas history. Downtown Las Vegas has transportation projects, public facilities, condos and lofts, markets, galleries, shops, clubs, and has attracted famous architects, who have gone there to work on green buildings. Right now the style is neon signs and cocktail bars. In 2009 the estimated population of Las Vegas was almost 2,000,000 people, and still growing.

8 Mafia Early on, Las Vegas was mob free, but Charles Lucky Luciano (an Italian Mobster), an unknown partner, and Meyer Lansky (a Russian American gangster) went there. Benjamin Bugsy Siegel worked for Meyer Lansky s crime organization. In 1959, Fidel Castro marched into Cuba and seized mob casinos, pointing the mob s attention to their Las Vegas hotel\casinos. Lansky wanted to avoid getting blamed if Las Vegas failed, so he sent Bugsy to raise money and try to make Las Vegas a tourist attraction. Bugsy started the Flamingo Hotel and Casino and worked in a bulletproof office called The Bugsy Suite.

9 Conclusion Las Vegas is a famous city with an interesting story. I enjoyed learning about the hotels and casinos as well as the people who started them like Bugsy Siegel, and the people who made them popular like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. I can t wait to visit Las Vegas and see the famous hotels like the Bellagio, the Flamingo and Caesars Palace. I hope that if you visit Las Vegas, you will think of this report and remember the people like Bugsy who made the city a travel destination for people all over the world.