castaways-implosion
The Castaways Hotel and Casino (2000-2004), formerly the Showboat (1954–2000), was a hotel and casino located at the north end of the Boulder Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada. The hotel consisted of a 19 story tower containing 445 rooms, a 80,000-square-foot casino and an adjacent RV park. After 50 years the hotel was closed on January 29, 2004 and the hotel town was later imploded on January 11, 2006.
On January 10, 1957 the Dunes on the Las Vegas Strip becomes the first hotel/casino to offer a topless show called the Minsky’s Follies. Minsky’s inspiration was modeled on Parisian nightclub shows. The state was not amused but the show was a big success and set a record of 16,000 in just one week.
Minsky’s Follies at Dunes was the first topless show in Nevada
“Viva Las Vegas” 1964 Movie Poster
Elvis Presley was born on January 8, 1935 in Tupelo, Mississippi, and was one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century, he is often referred to as “the King of Rock and Roll”, or simply, “the King”
Here is a list of Elvis engagements in the Vegas heyday 1969 – 1976.
April 23 – May 9, 1956, Elvis made his first appearance in Las Vegas at the New Frontier Hotel in the spring of 1956. Audiences in Las Vegas gave Elvis a cool reception.
July, 1963, Elvis Presley and Ann-Margret are in Las Vegas filming what would be Presley’s 15th film, “Viva Las Vegas.” The movie was released in June of 1964.
July 31 – Aug. 28, 1969, The King is back, Elvis returns to Las Vegas. He is booked for a four-week, 57-show run at the newly built International Hotel (later the hotel name changed to the Hilton Hotel then to the Las Vegas Hotel). The show breaks all existing Las Vegas attendance records. Elvis’ first live album is recorded during the shows.
January – February, 1970, Elvis returns to Las Vegas for a month-long run at the International Hotel. Once again, Elvis breaks attendance records.
Aug. 10 – Sept. 7, 1970: A month-long appearance at the International Hotel. MGM films some of the rehearsals and stage performance for its documentary “Elvis – That’s the Way It Is.”
January – February, 1971, A month-long appearance at the International Hotel.
Aug. 9 – Sept. 6, 1971 Elvis returns to Las Vegas and appears at the International Hotel to record audiences. During his month-long appearance he is given the Lifetime Achievement Award presented each year during the Grammy Awards. Elvis was 36 years old.
1972 – 1975 Elvis performs a few months per year in Vegas for the over the next 3 years at the International.
August 18 – September. 5, 1975 Elvis opens at the Hilton (now called the Las Vegas Hotel & Casino), but ends his appearances on Aug. 20, 1975, when he is flown to Memphis and hospitalized due to illness.
December 2-15, 1975, Elvis returns to the Hilton to make up for shows that were cancelled because of his ill health.
December 2-12, 1976, Elvis appears at the Hilton for a two-week engagement. It turns out to be his final Las Vegas appearances.
August 16,1977, Elvis dies at Graceland in Memphis, Tenn. In Las Vegas, fans and friends mourn the passage of an entertainment and Vegas legend.
Aria at City Center in Las Vegas Opened on December 16, 2009
Aria Resort and Casino is a luxury resort and casino, part of the CityCenter complex on the Las Vegas Strip. Aria consists of two curved glass and steel highrise towers adjoined at the center and makes up 2 of the seven buildings of CityCenter. The Harmon Hotel and Spa, the Crystals, Veer Towers and the Mandarin Oriental. Aria Resort and Casino opened on December 16, 2009 as a joint venture between MGM Resorts International and Infinity World Development. At 4,000,000 sq ft, and 600 ft. in height, it is the largest and tallest structure at CityCenter.
The resort’s 61 and 51-story towers contain a AAA five diamond hotel with 4,004 guest rooms and suites, 16 restaurants, 10 bars and nightclubs, and a casino with 150,000 sq ft. of gaming space. It also has a 215,000 sq ft. pool area with 50 cabanas, an 80,000 sq ft. salon and spa, a 300,000 sq ft. convention center and a 1,800-seat theater.
Among the most notable aspects of Aria is its incorporation of technology in the exterior and interior design of the hotel, specifically for the reduction of energy consumption and in a desert that reaches over 110 degrees in the summer, this is quite a feat. It is the largest hotel in the world to have earned LEED Gold certification. On account of its smart rooms which automatically adjust curtains, turn off unused lights and electronics, and regulate the temperature when a guest enters or leaves a room, Aria was described in Popular Mechanics as possibly “the most technologically advanced hotel ever built”.
Photo By: Wikipedia
Boom Boom Ray Mancini boxing Duk Koo Kim on November 13, 1982
On this date: November 13, 1982, a 21-year-old “Boom Boom” Ray Mancini met 23-year-old South Korean challenger Duk Koo Kim. The title bout, was at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, it was also televised live on CBS Sports. It was a fight filled with action, but Mancini had an easy time hitting Kim during the 14 rounds the fight lasted. Kim suffered brain injuries during the fight that led to his death four days later. The week after his death, the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine showed Mancini and Kim battling, under the title “Tragedy in the Ring”.
Mancini went to the funeral in South Korea and he fell into a deep depression afterwards. He has said that the hardest moments came when people approached him and asked if he was the boxer who “killed” Duk Koo Kim. Mancini went through a period of reflection, as he blamed himself for Kim’s death.
Photo: Cover of Sports Illustrated, November 22, 1982
The New Frontier Hotel and Casino opened on October 30, 1942 making it the second resort on the Strip
The property started as a nightclub called Pair-O-Dice that opened in 1930, then The Ambassador Night Club in 1936 and was renamed the 91 Club in 1939 for its location on US 91. It was subsequently rebuilt and renamed the “Hotel Last Frontier” in 1942. On April 4, 1955, it was renamed the New Frontier, following a modernization of the resort.
The Last Frontier Hotel & Casino, (later renamed the New Frontier) was the second resort that opened on the Las Vegas Strip and operated continuously from October 30, 1942 until it closed its doors for good at 12:00 A.M. on July 16, 2007.
The resort had the distinction of hosting Elvis Presley’s first Vegas appearance in 1956, and the final performance of Diana Ross and The Supremes on January 14, 1970.
The building was demolished on November 13, 2007. In 2007, A new hotel casino, tentatively titled the Las Vegas Plaza, was proposed to be built in its place but those plan were scuttled in 2011.
Photo By: Wikipedia.org
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