Read all about the fascinating history of a desert destination that has become the playground for millions of people and billions of dollars! Las Vegas is fascinating!

• Las Vegas History 1929 - 1950
• 1829 - Discovered by Spanish explorers
• 1855 - First settlement by Mormons in Las Vegas
• 1905 - Town of Las Vegas established by auctioning of land
• 1911 - The City of Las Vegas is incorporated
• 1926 - First commercial airline flight in Las Vegas History, Western Airlines
• 1931 - Hoover Dam construction begins in Black Canyon
• 1931 - Gambling is legalized in Nevada
• 1935 - Hoover Dam dedicated by President Franklin Roosevelt
• 1941 - El Rancho Vegas opens on the Strip.
• 1941 - El Cortez Hotel opens in downtown Las Vegas
• 1942 - Last Frontier Hotel opens. (Later called New Frontier and Frontier.)
• 1944 - The first Helldorado parade and rodeo is conducted
• 1946 - Bugsy Siegel opens Flamingo Hotel. State levies first gaming taxes
• Las Vegas History 1955 - 1977
• 1955 - Gaming control strengthened
• 1959 - Las Vegas Convention Center opens.
• 1959 - The Nevada Gaming Commission is created
• 1960 - El Rancho destroyed by fire
• 1967 - Nevada allows publicly traded corporations to obtain gambling licenses
• 1977 - Legislature allows Nevada-based casinos to operate casinos outside Nevada's borders
• Las Vegas History 1980 - 1992
• 1980 - Las Vegas celebrates 75th birthday
• 1981 - Las Vegas celebrates Golden Anniversary of Gaming
• 1989 - Mirage opens November 22, with 3,039 rooms
• 1990 - Excalibur opens June 19, with 4,032 rooms
• Las Vegas History 1993 - 1995
• 1993 - Flamingo Hilton announces plans to raze Bugsy's suite and office
• 1993 - Dunes Hotel sold to Steve Wynn's Mirage Inc
• 1993 - North tower and Dunes sign imploded October 27
• 1993 - ITT Sheraton Corp. purchases Desert Inn Hotel from Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp
• 1993 - Dunes Hotel imploded October 27
• 1993 - Grand Slam Canyon Adventuredome opens August 23
• 1993 - Luxor Hotel opens October 15 with 2,526 rooms
• 1993 - Treasure Island Hotel opens October 27 with 2,900 rooms
• 1993 - MGM Grand Hotel and Theme Park opens December 18, with 5,005 rooms and a 171,500-square-foot casino
• 1993 - Nevada passes legislation for financing of "The Fremont Street Experience."
• 1994 - Boulder Station Casino on Boulder Highway in Las Vegas open
• 1994 - Plans to construct New York-New York Hotel Casino announced
• 1994 - Sam's Town on Boulder Highway expands with the opening of a 650-room tower
• 1994 - A 300-room hotel-casino named Boomtown opens on Blue Diamond Road at I-15
• 1994 - Skywalks are built over the intersection of Tropicana Boulevard and the Las Vegas Strip
• 1994 - McCarran Airport opens connector road system that tunnels under the east-west runways
• 1994- The Fiesta, the first hotel-casino in North Las Vegas, opens with 100 rooms
• 1995 - Vegas World closes February 1. Work begins on Stratosphere Tower and casino
• 1995 - The first Hard Rock Hotel opens March 10
• 1995 - Monorail begins running between MGM Grand and Bally's hotel-casinos on June 14
• 1995 - Bill Bennett retires from Circus Circus Enterprises, then buys the Sahara Hotel-Casino
• 1995 - ITT Corp. buys Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip
• 1995 - Construction begins on Steve Wynn's 46-story, $1.7 billion 3,000-room Bellagio
• 1995 - Circus Circus Enterprises buys Hacienda and surrounding 100 acres
• 1995 - Downtown Las Vegas opens the $70 million Fremont Street Experience December 13
• 1995 - Landmark Hotel imploded November 7
• Las Vegas History 1996 - 2000
• 1996 - Wayne Newton celebrates 25,000th Las Vegas performance
• 1996 - Siegfried and Roy celebrate 15,000th Las Vegas performance
• 1996 - Work completed on first tunnel under the Las Vegas Strip at Desert Inn Road.
• 1996 - Stratosphere Tower, the tallest structure west of the Mississippi, opens April 30
• 1996 - Hilton Hotels Corp. purchases Bally's Entertainment Corp. for $3 billion
• 1996 - Caesars Magical Empire opens in Caesars Palace June 18
• 1996 - Monte Carlo opens June 21
• 1996 - The 1,100-acre Las Vegas Motor Speedway opens in September
• 1996 - Building permits for the $500 million, 2,900-room Paris Las Vegas Casino Resort issued.
• 1996 - Hyatt Hotel Corp. plans to build a 500-room hotel on the shores of Lake Las Vegas
• 1996 - The Sands Hotel, after 44 years of continuous operation, is closed June 30
• 1996 - Sheldon Adelson plans to build 6,000-room Venetian megaresort on the former Sands site
• 1996 - Flamingo Hilton celebrates 50th anniversary
• 1996 - Caesars Palace celebrates 30th anniversary
• 1996 - Hacienda Hotel Casino imploded December 31 to make way for Mandalay Bay
• 1997 - The Tropicana Hotel celebrates its 40th anniversary
• 1997 - New York-New York Hotel Casino opens on the Las Vegas Strip January 3
• 1997 - Hilton Hotels Corp. makes hostile takeover move against ITT Corp. The deal involves ownership of Caesars Place and The Desert Inn
• 1997 - Construction of the Venetian Hotel and Resort begins
• 1997 - Sunset Station Hotel-Casino opens June 10
• 1997 - The Aladdin Hotel closes November 25 making way for a new gambling and hotel complex
• 1997 - The Desert Inn Hotel Casino completes $200 million renovation and expansion
• 1997- New owners change the name of the Boomtown Hotel Casino to Silverton
• 1997 - Harley Davidson Cafe opens on the Las Vegas Strip
• 1997 - Caesars Palace opens a new tower in December
• 1997 - Harrah's Entertainment Inc. buys Showboat Inc. in a $1.154 billion deal
• 1997 - The Frontier Hotel is sold to Phil Ruffin, a Kansas industrialist, for $165 million
• 1997 - Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino opens new tower giving the resort a total of 2,556 suites
• 1998 - Circus Circus announces that Mandalay Bay will be the name of the resort
• 1998 - Starwood Hotels & Resorts buys ITT Corp. for $14.6 billion. The purchase includes Caesars Palace and The Desert Inn.
• 1998 - The old Aladdin Hotel is imploded on April 27
• 1998 - Bellagio, billed as the most expensive hotel in the world ($1.7 billion) opens October 15
• 1998 - Las Vegas Convention Center' expansion, boosts its total space to 1.9 million square feet
• 1998 - The Debbie Reynolds hotel-casino, is sold by auction to the World Wresting Federation
• 1998 - Hilton Hotels Corp. spins off its gaming division to Park Place Entertainment Corp
• 1999 - Harrah's Entertainment Inc. purchases the Rio Hotel-Casino Inc. for $888 million, Jan. 1
• 1999 - MGM Grand Inc. takes 100 percent ownership of New York-New York Hotel & Casino
• 1999 - Mandalay Bay Resort opens March 2 with 3,300 rooms
• 1999 - Four Seasons Hotel opens March 2 with 424 rooms
• 1999 - Phase I of the Venetian Resort-Hotel-Casino opens May 3 with 3,036 suites
• 1999 - The Las Vegas Convention Center celebrates its 40th birthday
• 1999 - Circus Circus Enterprises changes its name to Mandalay Resort Group
• 1999 - The Resort at Summerlin opens July 15
• 1999 - Paris Las Vegas Casino Resort opens September 1
• 2000 - A $3 billion deal closes to sell Caesars Palace to Park Place Entertainment
• 2000 - The Resort at Summerlin changes its name to The Regent Las Vegas
• 2000 - MGM Grand Inc. purchases Mirage Resorts Inc., the largest corporate buyout in gaming history
• 2000 - Steve Wynn buys the Desert Inn and closes it on August 28
• 2000 - El Rancho (formally the Thunderbird, then the Silverbird) is imploded on October 3
• Las Vegas History 2001 to 2006
• 2001 - A 620-room hotel tower with a 9,000-seat arena plus a casino is planned by The Orleans
• 2001 - A 1.8 Mln Sq Foot Convention Centre is planned for addition to the Mandalay Bay
• 2002 - The Fremont Street Experience is enhanced with the addition of the Neonopolis Entertainment Centre
• 2002 - Wynn Resorts issues a public IPO for the $1.85 billion Le Rêve Development
• 2003 - The '40s themed "The Cannery" which cost $150 Mln, opens its doors
• 2003 - Steve Wynn changes the name of Le Rêve to Wynn Las Vegas
• 2003 - The new 1120 suite Tower, Thehotel, is opened by Mandalay Bay
• 2004 - The famous Binion's Horseshoe is purchased by Harrah's
• 2004 - MGM says they will be purchasing The Mandalay Resort
• 2004 - Harrah's Entertainment Says they will purchase Caesars Entertainment
• 2004 - Colony Resorts buys The Las Vegas Hilton for $280 million
• 2004 - The Las Vegas Monorail at a cost of $654 Mln, opens to the public
• 2005 - The Centennial year for Las Vegas. The official Centenial date was May the 15th and was celebrated with a huge birthday cake and a remake of the 1905 Land Auction that gave rise to Las Vegas
• 2005 - Wynn Las Vegas opens on 28 April
• 2005 - MGM Mirage announces plans for the Project CityCenter. This $5 Bln project will include 1650 Condo's and 4000 Hotel Rooms
• 2006 - Boyd Gaming introduce Echelon Place, a 5300 developement, which will take the place of the Stardust at a cost of $4 Bln
• 2006 - The Castaways, (formerly known as The Showboat), is imploded

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