It took approximately 3,300 pounds of wax to create the 100-plus "portraits" on display at Madame Tussaud's Celebrity Museum located at the Venetian Resort. That's an amount equal to 105,600 birthday candles.

The Nevada state tax on gambling revenues is 6.25% (this is what the casinos pay).

On April 3, 1941, the $425,000, western-themed El Rancho Vegas opened on 66 acres as the first hotel casino resort on Highway 91, on what would become the most glamorous roadway in the world -- the Las Vegas Strip.

The Flamingo Hilton was originally the Flamingo -- built by infamous mobster Bugsy Siegel, and the first official "carpet joint" on the strip.

Las Vegas is the largest city to be developed in the 20th century, and it continues to grow each month. Approximately 4,000 people a month move to Las Vegas . They are lured to this town for its abundance of jobs, its beautiful and affordable master-planned communities and the freedom from state taxes.

MGM Mirage, after the recent acquisition of Mandalay Resort Group, now owns The Mirage , Treasure Island, Bellagio , the Golden Nugget , the MGM Grand , New York New York, all three properties at the Nevada-California border (Whisky Pete's, Primm Valley, and Buffalo Bill's), Circus Circus , Excalibur , Luxor, Mandalay Bay, Monte Carlo and both casinos in Jean near the Nevada-California border (Nevada Landing and Gold Strike).

Las Vegas is the marriage capital of the world! The most popular Las Vegas wedding day is Valentine's Day. New Year's Eve runs a close second. For the entire year, more than 100,000 couples obtain marriage licenses in Las Vegas.

The MGM Grand is the nation's largest hotel with over 5000 rooms.

The Fountains of Bellagio express the romantic spirit of the Resort. More than a thousand fountains perform in front of the hotel, creating a breathtaking union of water, music and light. The display spans more than 1,000 feet, with water soaring as high as 240 feet in the air.

Maybe it's our wide open sky and great weather that have people moving here. Whatever the reason, Nevada again claimed the spot as the fastest growing state, with growth rate of about 4 percent. (We've held that title for the last 14 years.) Las Vegas, constantly at or near the top of fastest growing cities, is also the largest city founded in the 20th century.

The Western wing of the MGM Grand is actually the old Marina Hotel and Casino.  It was renovated and connected with the new building instead of being torn down.

Downtown's Pioneer Club was built in 1918. It was originally a restaurant. It survived a kitchen fire in the 1970s and has seen additions and renovations. However, some things just belong in the past: Some laborers claim they had ghostly visitations while working on the upper floors and refuse to set foot in it again.

The Stardust was the first hotel to add a sports book to its casino.

Though we're officially known as the Silver State, Nevada is also known for its minerals and semi-precious stones. A high percentage of all turquoise mined worldwide comes from Nevada. Fire opals and garnets are also prominent gems found here.

Steve Wynn's first Las Vegas investment was a large parking lot next to Caesars Palace.   He announced plans to build a hotel on the lot; Caesars Palace got nervous and paid Wynn a handsome premium for the property.

When Paul Anka wrote "My Way," he flew to Las Vegas and played it for Frank Sinatra, who was appearing at Caesars Palace at the time. It went on to become Sinatra's signature song. Elvis Presley liked it so much, he recorded it as one of his final songs before he died.

Park Place Entertainment is Hilton's gaming division.  They own the Las Vegas Hilton , Caesars Palace, the Flamingo Hilton, Paris Las Vegas , Bally's, and O'Shea's.

Perhaps Fremont Street should be known as First Street. It was the site of the city's first elevator, first paved street, first streetlight and first high-rise building (the Fremont Hotel, built in 1956 with 15 stories).

The vacant lot across from the Sahara has been empty since the original El Rancho Vegas burned down on that site 40 years ago.  It was one of the first resorts on the strip.

The Fremont Street Experience has doubled the downtown casino business. Each computer-generated light show lasts about six minutes and requires a minimum of 12,000 frames. The seven-million-pound structure is held up by 16 giant columns. The four-block-long canopy uses more than twelve million lights.

Elvis and Priscilla Presley were married at the original Aladdin hotel, which was torn down in 1998, rebuilt in 2000, bankrupt in 2001, then sold to OpBiz in 2003.

The MGM Grand is one of the world's largest hotel/casinos, with more than 5,000 rooms. It would take a person 13 years and eight months to sleep in every one of them.

In the early days of the strip, slot machines were initially a diversion for the women companions of male gamblers who were busy at the tables.  Now slot machines typically earn 60% or more of a casino's take.

Jay Sarno opened Caesars Palace in 1966. It had 680 rooms. Three years later, the International (now the Las Vegas Hilton) opened as the largest hotel in the free world. It had 1,512 rooms. Today, they have 2,454 and 3,000 rooms, respectively. These two hotels are credited with paving the way for the mega-resorts of today.

The first place Frank Sinatra played in Las Vegas was the Desert Inn.

Since Clark County was founded in 1909, more than 3 million couples have been married here. The magic number came about Feb. 9, 2001 when Alberto Recio, 57, and Marlene Rodriquez, 33, tied the knot. Things have changed since 1909. John and Linda Henk, the 2,999,999th couple to marry here, began their romance over the Internet.

Howard Hughes stayed at the Desert Inn so long, the owners asked him to leave.  He offered to buy the hotel and the owners sold, thus beginning his casino buying spree.  He is often credited with bringing corporate legitimacy to gaming interests.

Teen singing sensation Paul Anka ("Put Your Head on My Shoulder") first played Las Vegas when he was only 18 -- too young to be allowed in the casino. He opened at the Sahara Hotel in 1958 for Sophie Tucker.

The Golden Gate Hotel and Casino in downtown is the oldest hotel in Las Vegas (1906).

Mount Potosi lies about 33 miles west of Las Vegas. It is most notable for being the site where Carole Lombard died in a plane crash. Stories at the time said a treasured necklace, given to her by husband Clark Gable, pierced through her heart. Though the coroner dismissed the idea, the legend persists to this day.

The Riviera was the first high-rise hotel on the Strip when it opened in 1955.

The casino scenes in the movie Casino (Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone, Joe Pesci) were filmed in the Riviera, probably because it had not changed much since the 70s - the era that the film depicted.

Paul Newman and Robert Redford had audiences cheering for them in the movie "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." But no one was smiling back in 1900 when robbers, believed to be the real Butch Cassidy's gang, the Wild Bunch, robbed the First National Bank of Winnemucca, Nev.

Nellis Air Force Base is one of the most top-flight training bases in the U.S. military, but its WWII beginnings were rather lackluster. Called the Army Air Corps, the base did not have a full complement of weapons for the class of first gunners. Civilians stepped forward, and the soldiers trained with borrowed .22 rifles, shotguns ... and BB guns.