Category: Vegas

Crazy Motorcycle Stunts in Las Vegas

December 31, 2017

December 31, 1967 – Caesar Palace
It all Started with Evel Knevel. On December 31, 1967, Daredevil Evel Knievel attempted to jump over the water fountains at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Knievel’s jump was a 141 foot attempt and his longest to-date. When he hit the takeoff ramp, he felt the motorcycle unexpectedly decelerate. The sudden loss of power on the takeoff caused Knievel to come up short and land on the safety ramp which was supported by a van. This caused the handlebars to be ripped out of his hands as he tumbled over them onto the pavement where he skidded into the Dunes parking lot. As a result of the crash, Knievel suffered a crushed pelvis and femur, fractures to his hip, wrist, and both ankles and a concussion that kept him in the hospital for a month in a reported coma for 29 days.

September 15, 1980 – Caesar Palace
Gary Wells gained much media coverage, and much physical suffering, when he unsuccessfully tried to jump a motorcycle over the water fountains at the Caesars Palace. He sustained injuries to many different parts of his body.

August 9, 1988 – Binion’s Horshoe Parking 7th Floor to Mint Parking garage 6th Floor
Johnny Airtime teamed up with Joe Reed and they billed themselves as The Guardian and The Bandit. They launched themselves from a seven story parking structure and landed 120′ later on top of a six story building. No safety ramp or landing ramp was used! Upon landing, they had to crash into a net to keep themselves from falling off the landing structure. The jump was billed as “Super Jump II” and was on the Guinness Book of Records television program. The gap between the two buildings was 90′.

February 4, 1999 – Jockey Club Towers in Las Vegas
Robbie Knievel jumped the 130-foot gap between the two 13-story Jockey Club Towers in Las Vegas. To avoid falling off the second tower, Robbie intentionally crashed his motorcycle into hay bales.

May 4, 2006 – Caesars Place
Mike ‘The Godfather’ Metzger sets a Guinness World Record with a 125-foot long motorcycle jump that included a back flip over a fountain at Caesars Palace on May 4, 2006 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

December 31, 2007 – Rio Hotel
Australian stunt rider Robbie Maddison, jumps the distance of a football leaping a world-record 322 feet, seven inches in Las Vegas on New Years Eve obliterating the previous Guinness World Record of 277 feet by Trigger Gumm.


December 31, 2008 – Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas
Robbie Knievel was scheduled to jump the volcano at the Mirage Hotel. At the actual 200-foot jump, Knievel gave the appearance of jumping the volcano, but limited the stunt to a ramp-to-ramp jump in front of the volcano with fireworks behind him.

December 31, 2008 – Paris Las Vegas
Robbie Madison, live on ESPN in front of a world audience, Maddison successfully jumped 96 feet up onto the Arc de Triomphe in front of Paris Las Vegas and then descended a 80-foot drop off the monument to return safely to ground level. Robbie said after the jump that he may have broken his hand and had a gash to the bone in the webbing of his left hand.

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On This Date: December 16, 2009 The Aria Opened in Las Vegas

December 16, 2017
Aria at City Center in Las Vegas

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

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Ten Wild Facts about Las Vegas which Blow Your Mind

November 14, 2017

Image Source: Searchrank.com

Las Vegas, also renowned as Sin City, is best known as the gaming capital of the world. Being home to thousands of casinos that offer a wide assortment of thrills, Las Vegas is nothing short of a party destination. The city has been used as an inspiration for most online gambling destinations and the bonuses they offer, including the Bet365 casino bonus. Even though it is well known for gambling, not many people known much about the city of Las Vegas. Here are some mind-blowing facts about this flashy city that you probably didn’t know:

1. Public drinking

Some places may allow residents to walk around with drinks in their hands including Las Vegas, but the city has some strict laws on how to go about it. You are only allowed to have an open drink in public if the place where you made the purchase permitted you to leave with it. Additionally, glass and metal containers are not allowed, and one can only use a plastic container. With a drink in hand, you cannot go within one thousand feet of learning, medical, or religious institution. These drinking regulations are only upheld within the city limits.

2. Legendary Crime Lords
It is no secret that the city was built to its current gaming status by notorious mobsters. The mobster era was especially rampant between 1905 and 1910 when the law restricted gambling. The ban did not stop gambling activities, which were being undertaken underground. During this time until the ban was lifted in 1910, law enforcement engaged them in a great war, which went down in history as among the most gruesome mobster wars of our time. Even though gambling was legalized, the lottery remained banned even to date. Efforts to overturn this ban have proved futile.

You can learn more about this war in the Mob Museum located in the same city. It is filled with artifacts that were preserved from those days, and the staff tell stories of how the Las Vegas came under the influence of some of the biggest crime lords.

3. Numerous accommodation facilities
Apart from a lot of gambling establishments, Las Vegas boasts among the highest accommodation facilities, which amount to a total of one hundred and thirty thousand hotel rooms. The MGM Grand Casino has the most accommodation rooms, amounting to five thousand of them. The number of rooms available in Las Vegas are way more than those available in the entire State of Oregon, and it would take one person about two hundred and eighty-eight years to spend a night in each of them. These accommodation establishments are almost always over ninety percent full, which goes to show that the population of Las Vegas demands such a high amount of rooms.

4.  Gambling is within the city limits only

Las Vegas is most popular for its gambling activities, with casino games being found in nearly every nook and cranny. However, gambling is only allowed within forty kilometers of the famous Las Vegas Strip. Past the twenty-five-mile limit, one will be welcomed by the quieter side of Las Vegas. This law was enacted in 1931 during the construction of the Hoover Dam. The officials overseeing the construction were worried that the workers, who lived in a town just outside the city, would take all their wages to the casino tables and slots. Even with many evolvements happening in the small town, the authorities have still maintained the restriction.

5.  MGM Casino inferno
With the numerous guests that go in and out of casino establishments in Las Vegas, installing equipment to control infernos is fundamental. However, during the establishment of brick and mortar casinos up to the 1980s, most gambling destinations did not have some of the fire safety measures that are considered crucial today. The MGM Casino fell victim to an inferno in the ground floor, which happened to be one of the two floors which lacked water sprinklers. This led to a huge fire that saw the death of eighty-five people, and six hundred and seventy-nine being injured. This incident went down as one of the worst fire cases in the United States.

6. Gambling hospitals

Even though Las Vegas is well known for the thrill of gambling, one hospital took it too far, and workers began placing wagers on when their patient would pass on. These workers were stripped of their licenses, while one nurse faced murder for apparently killing one of her patients to win a wager. There have since been strict rules on where gambling can be undertaken in the city.

7.  Prostitution is banned

Being dubbed Sin City may lead most people into believing that it allows legal prostitution. The law in Nevada states that such activities are only allowed in states that feature the inhabitants not being less than four hundred thousand people. Seeing that Las Vegas has surpassed that mark by far, the practice is banned by the state. However, this does not mean that underground rings do not conduct the business.

8.  Las Vegas was among the most racially segregated states in the 1950s

During the legalization of gambling, African-Americans were not restricted from gambling at casinos. However, in the 1950s, tourists complained about the interaction of races, which led to the banning of African-Americans from gambling and living on a certain side of town. These laws were lifted in 1960.

9. Vegas saved FedEx
The Chief Executive Officer and Founder of the FedEx Company decided to dance with lady luck to save his company, which was facing bankruptcy and probable closure. He wagered the firm’s last five thousand dollars during a blackjack game. This saw him win twenty-seven thousand dollars, which helped him pay off the company’s debts.

10.  Hosts the brightest place on Earth
With about fifteen thousand miles of neon lights running through the strip, which is more than what most states have, it is no wonder the Las Vegas Strip is the brightest place on the globe when observed from space.

Las Vegas has much more exciting facts to it other than being the gambling capital as seen in this review.

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On This Date: November 13, 1982 “Boom Boom” Ray Mancini Defeats Duk Koo Kim Ends in Tragedy

November 13, 2017
Boom Boom Ray Mancini

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

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On This Date: October 30, 1942, The Last Frontier Hotel & Casino Opened

October 30, 2017
The New Frontier was a hotel and casino

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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On This Date: October 15, 1993, The Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas Opened

October 15, 2017
Luxor Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas

Luxor Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas opened on October 15, 1993

On this date October 15, 1993 the 120,000-square-foot casino and hotel opened at 4am. When it opened, the pyramid, which cost $375 million to build, was the tallest building, 365 feet, on the strip and contained 2,526 rooms and a 100,000 square ft. casino. In comparison, the Luxor stands at 365 feet tall where the Great Pyramid of Giza stands at 455 feet tall. The Luxor is located at the south end of the strip at 3900 S. Las Vegas Blvd. next to the Excalibur near Tropicana Ave.

The hotel was expanded with two additional hotel towers nearing 2,000 rooms in 1998 giving the resort a total of 4,407 rooms. The tip of the pyramid contains a fixed-position spotlight that points directly upward and is claimed to be the brightest beam in the world at over 42.3 billion candle power. Currently owned and operated by MGM Resorts International.

Original Photo by: Mark Wagner (Creative Commons Attribution 2.5)
Source: Wikipedia.org

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