Photo archive for May 15, 1905
El Rancho Vegas aerial
The El Rancho Vegas awaits commuters on Highway 91 (which would later become The Strip) in this late 1940s photo. The El Rancho was the first hotel casino on The Strip to offer gaming, lodging and dining in one location. A long train car can be seen in the distance heading toward downtown. At the time, the economy of Las Vegas was still reliant on the railroad between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles. View photo
The Pair O' Dice Club
The Pair O' Dice Nite Club, sits aside Highway 91 in this 1930s photo. The Pair O' Dice was the first nightclub on the Las Vegas Strip. Its main attraction was gambling before gambling was even legal in Nevada. The property was bought and turned into the 91 Club in 1939, which itself was rebuilt as the Last Frontier in 1942. View photo
Death of Bugsy Siegel
The Los Angeles Police photo of Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel after his murder in Beverly Hills, Calif., on June 20, 1947. Bullets were found throughout the house, including one which blew his left eyeball out of the socket and across the room. View photo
The "Easy" atomic bomb test
The mushroom cloud of the "Easy" atomic bomb test rises above the Nevada Test Site on Nov. 5, 1951. Energy levels the equivalent of over 31 thousand tons of TNT were discharged by the bomb. View photo
Baneberry nuclear test
The "Baneberry" underground nuclear test at Area 8 of the Nevada Test Site accidentally releases radioactivity above ground on December 18, 1970. The blast packed a nuclear punch a little less than half of the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima during World War II. View photo
Oscar Goodman in court with Tony Spilotro
Defense lawyer Oscar Goodman, left, in court in with Anthony "Tony the Ant" Spilotro, the Chicago mob's feared overseer in Las Vegas. Spilotro controls the crime family's rackets empire here for more than a decade. View photo
Oscar Goodman and Tony Spilotro
Mobster Tony "The Ant" Spilotro and attorney Oscar Goodman walk side by side after a session of the Spilotro trial in 1986. Goodmam defends Spilotro against state and federal charges throughout Spilotro's life. View photo
Sahara fire
Guests hang back as firefighters work to put out the blaze at the Sahara hotel in 1964. This fire is a precursor to the devastating MGM Grand fire in 1980. View photo
Priscilla bomb
The Priscilla nuclear bomb is detonated over Frenchman Flat on June 24, 1957. The test was one of a series of controversial nuclear tests codenamed Operation Plumbbob. The 37 kiloton bomb was detonated at 700 feet above the valley floor via hot air balloon. Operation Plumbbob sought to take advantage of the nuclear tests with training exercises, war games and lectures for military personnel on how the atom bomb would change the way wars would be fought, culminating in the actual explosions every 5 days during the late spring and summer of 1957. View photo
Elvis Presley at the International Hotel
Elvis Presley is shown at the International Hotel shortly after he made his first public stage appearance in nine years on July 26, 1969. View photo
The Rat Pack in another Copa Room performance
Sammy Davis Jr. roars with laughter as he and fellow Rat Pack members Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and Joey Bishop perform together at the Sands' Copa Room during the 1960s. View photo
Tony Bennett sings at the Sahara
Tony Bennett toasts on stage during a Nov. 1979 performance at the Sahara. View photo
Sahara Pool
The Sahara's 14-story tower rises out of the desert as guests lounge around the pool in this 1960s photo. Real estate developer Del Webb bought the property from Milton Prell in 1961 and orchestrated a $100 million merger between his construction company and the California-Sahara Corp., creating the first publicly traded company to own casinos. View photo
Sunset Station exterior
The entrance of Sunset Station as the sun goes down in Henderson. View photo
A losing gamble
Entertainer Debbie Reynolds pulls the handle of a slot machine inside the Debbie Reynolds Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, 1997. Reynolds would file bankruptcy later that year and sell the property for $10 million to the company behind the World Wrestling Federation. View photo
Close Call
Investigators examine the remnants of Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal's car after a bomb destroyed the vehicle on Oct. 4, 1982. View photo
Boulder Station exterior
The clock tower of the Boulder Station hotel-casino obscures the resort's 15-story tower. View photo
Boss Doc
The man in the middle of the photograph, known as "Boss Doc,'' is superintendent of a crew at Hoover Dam. This crew built the center section of the power house, machine shops, seismograph room, clock room and battery room in the summer of 1935. View photo
Bugsy Siegel
Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel is captured in this 1928 New York Police mug shot. Siegel built the Flamingo Hotel in 1946. While the lavish hotel's opening on Dec. 26, 1946 was a disaster, the Flamingo began making money in the spring of 1947 -- paving the way for other mob run hotels on the Strip. View photo
Tony "The Ant" Spilotro
Las Vegas mobster Anthony Spilotro sits in court, Feb. 10, 1983. Spilotro masterminded a burglary ring called the Hole in the Wall Gang with his brother Michael in 1976. Joe Pesci's character in the film "Casino" was based on Spilotro. View photo
Close Call
Investigators examine the area surrounding the twisted remnants of Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal's car after a bomb destroyed the vehicle on Oct. 4, 1982. A metal plate directly underneath the driver's seat of the Cadillac diverted the explosion away from Rosenthal, saving his life. View photo
Green Valley Ranch exterior
The Green Valley Ranch resort in Henderson. View photo
Sahara Fire
Firefighters work to put out a blaze atop the Sahara hotel on Aug. 25, 1964. Built-up grease was the cause of the fire, and the water damage forced the hotel to close the main casino, the Conga Room and the Casbar. The Conga room was relocated upstairs to keep hotel guests entertained while the other damaged rooms were repaired. View photo
Goodman Wins
Las Vegas Mayor-elect Oscar Goodman is congratulated on June 8, 1999 after beating City Councilman Arnie Adamsen in the mayoral race. Goodman has served three consecutive terms as mayor of Las Vegas. View photo
Tony Accardo
Tony Accardo View photo
The Spilotro Brothers
Mobster Anthony Spilotro, left, and his brother, Michael, leave the federal building in Chicago after a bond hearing in 1986. In June of that year the bodies of the Spilotro brothers were found buried in an Indiana cornfield. Sand inside of the lungs of the bodies lead investigators to conclude that the pair had been buried alive. View photo
Meyer Lansky
Meyer Lansky View photo
Moe Dalitz
Moe Dalitz View photo
Moe Sedway Playing Cards
Moe Sedway plays Farabank (Old Tiger) at the Golden Nugget Casino. Sedway was a known associate and lieutenant for mobster Meyer Lansky. View photo
Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal
Casino Executive Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal smiles for this portrait. Rosenthal secretly ran the Stardust hotel for the Chicago mafia and was famous for being the first to put a sports book inside of a casino. The movie "Casino" is based on the events surrounding Rosenthal's presence in Las Vegas. View photo
Fiesta Henderson tower
The 224-room hotel of the Fiesta Henderson rises above the resort's parking lot. The Resort was originally the Reserve hotel-casino, which struggled to turn a profit in its short history. When Station Casinos, which was losing money at the time, acquired the property in 2001, many were unsure of how successful the casino would be. Reporting record profits in 2005, Station casinos funded a $70 million expansion of The Fiesta. View photo
Fiesta Rancho exterior
The sign of the Fiesta Rancho lights up as dusk falls over the hotel-casino. The Fiesta Rancho was the first ever Fiesta casino. It was owned and operated by the Maloof family until Station Casinos Inc. bought the property in January 2001 and franchised the Fiesta name. View photo
The Bellagio
The Fountains of the Bellagio erupt in this Jan. 1, 2000 photo. Upon its opening, the Bellagio became the largest and most expensive hotel in the world, once again upping the ante for Las Vegas casinos. View photo