1.
Las Vegas
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The city anchors the Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area and is the largest city within the greater Mojave Desert. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city known primarily for its gambling, shopping, fine dining, entertainment and it is the leading financial, commercial, and cultural center for Nevada. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World and it is a top three destination in the United States for business conventions and a global leader in the hospitality industry, claiming more AAA Five Diamond hotels than any city in the world. Today, Las Vegas annually ranks as one of the worlds most visited tourist destinations. The citys tolerance for numerous forms of adult entertainment earned it the title of Sin City, and has made Las Vegas a popular setting for literature, films, television programs, Las Vegas was settled in 1905 and officially incorporated in 1911. At the close of the 20th century, it was the most populated American city founded within that century, population growth has accelerated since the 1960s, and between 1990 and 2000 the population nearly doubled, increasing by 85. 2%. Rapid growth has continued into the 21st century, and according to a 2013 estimate, perhaps the earliest visitors to the Las Vegas area were nomadic Paleo-Indians, who traveled there 10,000 years ago, leaving behind petroglyphs. Anasazi and Paiute tribes followed at least 2,000 years ago, a young Mexican scout named Rafael Rivera is credited as the first non-Native American to encounter the valley, in 1829. Trader Antonio Armijo led a 60-man party along the Spanish Trail to Los Angeles, the area was named Las Vegas, which is Spanish for the meadows, as it featured abundant wild grasses, as well as desert spring waters for westward travelers. The year 1844 marked the arrival of John C, frémont, whose writings helped lure pioneers to the area. Downtown Las Vegas Fremont Street is named after him, eleven years later members of the LDS Church chose Las Vegas as the site to build a fort halfway between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles, where they would travel to gather supplies. The fort was abandoned several years afterward, the remainder of this Old Mormon Fort can still be seen at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Washington Avenue. Las Vegas was founded as a city in 1905, when 110 acres of adjacent to the Union Pacific Railroad tracks were auctioned in what would become the downtown area. In 1911, Las Vegas was incorporated as a city,1931 was a pivotal year for Las Vegas. At that time, Nevada legalized casino gambling and reduced residency requirements for divorce to six weeks and this year also witnessed the beginning of construction on nearby Hoover Dam. The influx of workers and their families helped Las Vegas avoid economic calamity during the Great Depression. The construction work was completed in 1935, in 1941, the Las Vegas Army Air Corps Gunnery School was established. Currently known as Nellis Air Force Base, it is home to the team called the Thunderbirds
2.
Nevada
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Nevada is a state in the Western, Mountain West, and Southwestern regions of the United States of America. Nevada is the 7th most extensive, the 34th most populous, nearly three-quarters of Nevadas people live in Clark County, which contains the Las Vegas–Paradise metropolitan area where three of the states four largest incorporated cities are located. Nevada is officially known as the Silver State because of the importance of silver to its history and economy. It is also known as the Battle Born State, because it achieved statehood during the Civil War, as the Sage-brush State, for the plant of the same name. Nevada borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, Nevada is largely desert and semi-arid, much of it located within the Great Basin. Areas south of the Great Basin are located within the Mojave Desert, while Lake Tahoe, about 86% of the states land is managed by various jurisdictions of the U. S. federal government, both civilian and military. Before European contact, Native Americans of the Paiute, Shoshone, the first Europeans to explore the region were Spanish. They called the region Nevada because of the snow covered the mountains in winter. The area formed part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, the United States annexed the area in 1848 after its victory in the Mexican–American War, and it was incorporated as part of Utah Territory in 1850. The discovery of silver at the Comstock Lode in 1859 led to a boom that became an impetus to the creation of Nevada Territory out of western Utah Territory in 1861. Nevada became the 36th state on October 31,1864, as the second of two added to the Union during the Civil War. Nevada has a reputation for its libertarian laws, in 1940, with a population of just over 110,000 people, Nevada was by far the least-populated state, with less than half the population of the next least-populated state. However, legalized gambling and lenient marriage and divorce laws transformed Nevada into a major tourist destination in the 20th century, Nevada is the only U. S. state where prostitution is legal, though it is illegal in Clark County, Washoe County and Carson City. The tourism industry remains Nevadas largest employer, with mining continuing as a sector of the economy. The name Nevada comes from the Spanish nevada, meaning snow-covered, most Nevadans pronounce the second syllable of their state name using the vowel of trap. Many from outside the Western United States pronounce it with the vowel of father, although the latter pronunciation is closer to the Spanish pronunciation, it is not the pronunciation preferred by most Nevadans. State Assemblyman Harry Mortenson proposed a bill to recognize the alternate pronunciation of Nevada, though the bill was not supported by most legislators, the Nevadan pronunciation is the de facto official one, since it is the one used by the state legislature. Nevada is almost entirely within the Basin and Range Province, and is broken up by many mountain ranges
3.
Fremont Street
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Fremont Street is a street in Las Vegas, Nevada, and is the second most famous street in the Las Vegas Valley after the Las Vegas Strip. The abundance of signs, like cowboy Vegas Vic, earned the street the nickname of Glitter Gulch. Fremont Street formerly carried several national highways, including U. S. Route 93, US95, US93 and US95 have been rerouted along Interstate 515, while US466 has been decommissioned. The section of Fremont Street east of the Fremont East District is currently designated Nevada State Route 582, Fremont Street dates back to 1905, when Las Vegas itself was founded. Fremont Street was the first paved street in Las Vegas in 1925, Fremont Street also carried the shields of U. S. Route 93, US95, and US466 before the construction of the interstates. While gambling was well established prior to being legalized, the Northern Club in 1931 received one of the first 6 gambling licenses issued in Nevada, Glitter Gulch was closed to vehicle traffic in September,1994 to begin construction on the Fremont Street Experience. The 1964 Elvis Presley film Viva Las Vegas featured nighttime footage of Fremont Street during the opening credits. The 1971 James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever featured a scene in which James Bond, running from Las Vegas police. The 1987 music video for the song I Still Havent Found What Im Looking For by U2 was filmed on Fremont Street and featured the members wandering around. In the 1987 anthology film, Aria, one of the segments involves two young lovers driving down Fremont Street before attempting suicide. The second season of the NBC show Crime Story featured Fremont Street in its opening credits, 1998s Very Bad Things featured Fremont Street in the movie. 1990s Honey, I Blew Up the Kid prominently featured Fremont Street in the movie, 1991s Cool World showed all the animation coming out of the Union Plaza Hotel and going down Fremont Street. In 1994, Glitter Gulch was featured prominently in the TV Miniseries The Stand, the 1997 comedy Vegas Vacation includes a few scenes on Fremont Street. In a 2005 release, Panic. at the Disco released a song about Fremont Street called Build God, Fremont Street appears in the 2004 video game Grand Theft Auto, San Andreas as The Old Las Venturas Strip. The 2007 film Next, has Nicolas Cages character entering the Golden Nugget from the Fremont Street Experience, Ice Cubes music video for Chrome and Paint took place on Fremont Street, with Ice Cube in a lowrider. Heavily referenced in the Tom Waits song Mr. Siegal, featured at the beginning of the TV series - CSI season 7 finale episode 24. Featured in the credits of the TV series Vega$. Magician & illusionist, Criss Angel, has done many demonstrations there, featured in The Real World, Las Vegas
4.
Gold rush
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A gold rush is a new discovery of gold that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, the wealth that resulted was distributed widely because of reduced migration costs and low barriers to entry. While gold mining itself was unprofitable for most diggers and mine owners, some people made fortunes. The resulting increase in the gold supply stimulated global trade. Historians have written extensively about the migration, trade, colonization, Gold rushes helped spur a huge immigration that often led to permanent settlement of new regions. Activities propelled by gold rushes define significant aspects of the culture of the Australian, at a time when the worlds money supply was based on gold, the newly mined gold provided economic stimulus far beyond the gold fields. Gold rushes extend back as far as gold mining, to the Roman Empire, whose gold mining was described by Diodorus Siculus and Pliny the Elder, within each mining rush there is typically a transition through progressively higher capital expenditures, larger organizations, and more specialized knowledge. They may also progress from high-unit value to lower unit value minerals, a rush typically begins with the discovery of placer gold made by an individual. At first the gold may be washed from the sand and gravel by individual miners with little training, using a pan or similar simple instrument. Winning the gold in this manner requires almost no capital investment, only a pan or equipment that may be built on the spot. The low investment, the value per unit weight of gold. After the sluice-box stage, placer mining may become increasingly large scale, requiring larger organisations, small claims owned and mined by individuals may need to be merged into larger tracts. Difficult-to-reach placer deposits may be mined by tunnels, water may be diverted by dams and canals to placer mine active river beds or to deliver water needed to wash dry placers. The more advanced techniques of ground sluicing, hydraulic mining and dredging may be used, typically the heyday of a placer gold rush would last only a few years. Hard rock mining, like mining, may evolve from low capital investment and simple technology to progressively higher capital. The surface outcrop of a gold-bearing vein may be oxidized, so that the gold occurs as native gold, the first miners may at first build a simple arrastra to crush their ore, later, they may build stamp mills to crush ore more quickly. As the miners dig down, they may find that the part of vein contains gold locked in sulfide or telluride minerals. If the ore is still rich, it may be worth shipping to a distant smelter
5.
Vic & Anthony's Steakhouse
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Vic & Anthony’s is an American steakhouse restaurant chain with locations in Downtown Houston, ]and inside the Golden Nugget Casinos in Las Vegas and Atlantic City. A fourth location is scheduled to open inside the new Golden Nugget Lake Charles in late 2014, Vic & Anthony’s is owned and operated by Landry’s, Inc. In 2002, Fertitta opened Vic & Anthony’s in Downtown Houston, across the street from Minute Maid Park, the AAA listing for the restaurant describes its atmosphere as upscale. Dress code is business or dressy casual, all four locations are open for dinner, and the New York location is open for lunch Monday through Friday. The Houston location is open for lunch on Fridays, when Executive Concept Chef Carlos Rodriguez features a range of burgers. The Houston Rockets’ guard James Harden frequents the restaurants after home games
6.
Landry's, Inc.
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Landrys, Inc. is an American, privately owned, multi-brand dining/hospitality/entertainment/gaming corporation. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Landrys, Inc. owns and operates more than 500 restaurant/hotel/casino/entertainment destinations in 35 states, the company also owns and operates numerous international locations. Landrys, Inc. is owned entirely by President & CEO Tilman J. Fertitta, a partner in the companys first Landrys Seafood. A year later, Fertitta helped open Willie Gs, a restaurant in Houston. In 1986, Fertitta gained controlling interests in both restaurants and he became CEO and took the company public in 1993, with a valuation of $30 million. Under the leadership of Fertitta, the company expanded, in 2010, already being the majority shareholder, Fertitta acquired all outstanding shares of company stock, gaining sole control and ownership. By 2011, the value had risen to more than $1.7 billion. Throughout the 1990s, Landrys, Inc. expanded, developing and acquiring restaurant, entertainment, hospitality, in 1994, Landrys, Inc. acquired Joes Crab Shack. In 2006, Landrys, Inc. sold Joes Crab Shack, during the decade, the company acquired a number of other restaurants, including The Crab House and Cadillac Bar. In 2004, Landrys, Inc. partnered with the City of Galveston to open a 140,000 square foot convention center, in 2003, the company acquired the adjacent Holiday Inn Resort Galveston – On the Beach. In 2004, the adjacent Hilton Galveston Island Resort was acquired, in total, the San Luis Resort includes 700 guest rooms,10 restaurants, and 200,000 square feet of event space. The companys hospitality division also includes The Westin Houston Downtown in Downtown Houston, in 1998, the company developed the 35-acre Kemah Boardwalk, with a hotel, a marina, more than 10 restaurants, and dozens of midway games, amusement rides, and attractions. After 2000, Landrys, Inc. continued to grow, in 2000, the company acquired Rainforest Cafe, a collection of jungle-inspired restaurants and retail villages. In 2002, the company acquired three national restaurants, including Saltgrass Steak House, Chart House, and Muer Restaurants, a series of seafood restaurants, a train carries guests into a tunnel running through a 250, 000-gallon shark tank. Other Aquarium restaurants have opened in Denver, Nashville. In 2005, the company acquired Golden Nugget Hotel & Casinos, with locations in Las Vegas and Laughlin, Landrys, Inc. has since opened two additional locations in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and Biloxi, Mississippi. A fifth location opened in Lake Charles, Louisiana, in 2014, in 2010, Landrys, Inc. acquired three new restaurants. Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, a collection of restaurants, is themed on the hit movie Forrest Gump
7.
Casino
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A casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. The industry that deals in casinos is called the gaming industry, casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions. There is much debate whether or not the social and economic consequences of casino gambling outweigh the initial revenue that may be generated. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertainment events, such as comedy, concerts. The term casino is a confusing linguistic false friend for translators, Casino is of Italian origin, the root casa originally meant a small country villa, summerhouse, or social club. In modern-day Italian, the term designates a bordello, while the gambling house is spelled casinò with an accent. Not all casinos were used for gaming, the Copenhagen Casino was a theatre, known for the mass public meetings often held in its hall during the 1848 Revolution, which made Denmark a constitutional monarchy. Until 1937, it was a well-known Danish theatre, the Hanko Casino in Hanko, Finland—one of that towns most conspicuous landmarks—was never used for gambling. Rather, it was a hall for the Russian nobility which frequented this spa resort in the late 19th century and is now used as a restaurant. In military and non-military usage in German and Spanish, a casino or kasino is an officers mess, in Italian—the source-language of the word—a casino is either a brothel, a mess, or a noisy environment, while a gaming house is called a casinò. The precise origin of gambling is unknown and it is generally believed that gambling in some form or another has been seen in almost every society in history. From the Ancient Greeks and Romans to Napoleons France and Elizabethan England and it was closed in 1774 as the city government felt it was impoverishing the local gentry. In American history, early gambling establishments were known as saloons, the creation and importance of saloons was greatly influenced by four major cities, New Orleans, St. Louis, Chicago and San Francisco. It was in the saloons that travelers could find people to talk to, drink with, during the early 20th century in America, gambling became outlawed and banned by state legislation and social reformers of the time. However, in 1931, gambling was legalized throughout the state of Nevada, Americas first legalized casinos were set up in those places. In 1976 New Jersey allowed gambling in Atlantic City, now Americas second largest gambling city, most jurisdictions worldwide have a minimum gambling age. Customers gamble by playing games of chance, in cases with an element of skill, such as craps, roulette, baccarat, blackjack. Most games played have mathematically determined odds that ensure the house has at all times an overall advantage over the players and this can be expressed more precisely by the notion of expected value, which is uniformly negative
8.
Downtown Las Vegas
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Downtown Las Vegas is the central business district and historic center of Las Vegas, Nevada. It is the townsite and was the gambling district of Las Vegas prior to the Strip. Downtown is located in the center of the Las Vegas Valley and just north of the Las Vegas Strip, centered on Fremont Street, the Fremont Street Experience and Fremont East. The city defines the area as bounded by I-15 on the west, Washington Avenue on the north, Maryland Parkway on the east, perhaps the earliest visitors to the Las Vegas area were nomadic Paleo-Indians, who traveled here 10,000 years ago, leaving behind petroglyphs. Anasazi and Paiute tribes came here at least 2,000 years ago, the area was named Las Vegas, which is Spanish for the meadows, in the 1800s because it featured abundant wild grasses, as well as desert spring waters for westward travelers. The year 1844 marked the arrival of John C, frémont, whose writings helped lure pioneers to the area. Downtown Las Vegas’ Fremont Street is named after him, eleven years later, members of the LDS Church chose Las Vegas as the site to build a fort halfway between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles, where they would travel to gather supplies. The fort was abandoned several years afterward, the remainder of this fort can still be seen at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Washington Avenue at the Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park. Las Vegas was founded as a city in 1905, when 110 acres of adjacent to the Union Pacific Railroad tracks were auctioned in what would become the downtown area. In 1911, Las Vegas was incorporated as a city, the year 1931 was a pivotal one for Las Vegas. At that time, Nevada legalized casino gambling and reduced residency requirements for divorce to six weeks and this year also witnessed the beginning of construction on nearby Hoover Dam. The influx of workers and their families helped Las Vegas avoid economic calamity during the Great Depression. Following World War II, lavishly decorated hotels, gambling casinos, the 1950s saw the opening of the Moulin Rouge Hotel, the first racially integrated casino-hotel in Las Vegas. In 1951, the first atomic bomb detonation at the Nevada Test Site,65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, City residents and visitors were able to witness the mushroom clouds until 1963, when the Limited Test Ban Treaty required that nuclear tests be moved underground. During the 1960s, corporations and business such as Howard Hughes were building and buying hotel-casino properties. Gambling was referred to as gaming, which transitioned into legitimate business, in 1989, entrepreneur Steve Wynn changed the face of the Las Vegas gaming industry by opening up The Mirage, the Las Vegas Strip’s first mega-casino resort. This strengthened the pull of visitors away from the downtown area, in 1995, the Fremont Street Experience in Las Vegas’ downtown area was opened. This canopied, five-block area features 12.5 million LED lights and 550,000 watts of sound from dusk until midnight during shows held on the top of each hour
9.
Fremont Street Experience
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The Fremont Street Experience is a pedestrian mall and attraction in Downtown Las Vegas, Nevada. The FSE occupies the westernmost five blocks of Fremont Street, including the known for years as Glitter Gulch. The central attraction is a barrel vault canopy,90 ft high at the peak and four blocks, or approximately 1,500 ft, in length. While Las Vegas is known for never turning the outside casino lights off, each show begins by turning off the lights on all of the buildings, including the casinos, before each show, one bidirectional street that crosses the Experience is blocked off for safety reasons. Concerts, usually free, are held on three stages. The Horseshoe was the first casino to install carpeting, while the Golden Nugget was the first structure designed from the ground up to be a casino. For many years, the end of Fremont Street was the area most commonly portrayed whenever producers wanted to display the lights of Las Vegas. The large number of neon signs earned the area the nickname Glitter Gulch, by 1992 80% of the Las Vegas casino market, however, was on the Strip. Downtown Las Vegas hotels and casinos sought to build an attraction that would lure more visitors to their businesses, after Paramount Pictures head Stanley Jaffe refused to approve a proposal to build a life-sized Starship Enterprise, the Fremont Street Experience was chosen as the project. It was the second Las Vegas project of architect Jon Jerde, Jerdes design included a floating sky parade which was to be suspended from the canopy. The concept was accepted by the Fremont Street Experience as well as the City of Las Vegas, ultimately Jon Jerdes sky parade concept was scrapped, but the architectural design for the canopy was carried through. The local Architect of Record, the firm of Mary Kozlowski Architect, wind, The addition of the canopy over Fremont Street would create a wind tunnel causing a dangerous condition for people on the floats who would be trapped. Also the potential for motion as the floats swung back and forth in the wind potentially resulting in massive structural failure of the canopy. Sand, The combination of sand and the mechanical systems of the sky parade would make the attraction difficult to maintain. A new concept for the show was necessary quickly as funds were already available, the concept for the show as it now exists was conceived by architect Mary Kozlowski who had grown up in Las Vegas and knew and loved Fremont Street. It was a show on the underside of the canopy — the worlds largest and most spectacular. Peter Smith, vice-president of Atlandia Design, recognized the beauty and practicality of the concept, Jon Jerde, FSE and the City of Las Vegas embraced the show concept. Kozlowskis concept was to use a combination of four colored light bulbs per light which allowed a full spectrum of colors, the Young Electric Sign Company assisted in creating the test panels and in the final installation
10.
Steve Wynn
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Stephen Alan Steve Wynn is an American real estate businessman and art collector. He is known for his involvement in the American luxury casino, in 2000, Wynn sold his company Mirage Resorts to MGM Grand Inc. resulting in the formation of MGM Mirage. Wynn afterwards took his company Wynn Resorts public in a public offering. Current projects include Wynn Palace in Macau and Wynn Everett near Boston, in 2006 Wynn was inducted into the American Gaming Association Hall of Fame. As of September 2015, Wynns net worth was estimated by Forbes at $2.4 billion, Steve Wynn is an avid collector of fine art, often exhibiting pieces by artists such as Picasso and Claude Monet in Wynn Resorts hotels. Steve Wynn was born Stephen Alan Weinberg in New Haven, Connecticut on January 27,1942, Wynn was raised in Utica, New York, and graduated from The Manlius School, a private boys school east of Syracuse, New York, in 1959. Steve Wynn received his Bachelor of Arts in English literature at the University of Pennsylvania where he was a member of the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity, shortly before graduating his father died of heart problems, leaving $350,000 in gambling debts. Wynn relinquished a position at Yale Law School to take charge of his familys business in Waysons Corner, Maryland, within a year he had expanded the company. Wynn and his family moved in 1967 to Las Vegas where his success with his familys business allowed him to purchase a small stake in the Frontier Hotel. That year he met E. Parry Thomas, dubbed by Vanity Fair as the most influential banker in Las Vegas. Thomas was the president of the Bank of Las Vegas, which was the bank at the time that would extend loans to Las Vegas casinos. Starting in 1968 Wynn also spent four years operating a wine and his company stake increased so that, in 1973, he became the majority shareholder, and the youngest casino owner in Las Vegas. In 1977 he opened the Golden Nuggets first hotel tower, followed by several others, frank Sinatra was a periodic headliner at the Golden Nugget, and Wynn has since maintained a relationship with the Sinatra family, even naming a restaurant at Encore “Sinatra”. In 1980, Wynn began construction on the Golden Nugget Atlantic City in Atlantic City and it was Atlantic Citys first casino built from scratch, first and only locals casino, and the citys sixth casino after the city legalized gambling in 1976. Joel Bergman, who designed Wynns other resorts, designed the Golden Nugget, though at its opening it was the second smallest casino in the city, by 1983 it was the citys top earning casino. The Atlantic City Golden Nugget was sold by Wynn in 1987 for $440 million, in 1989, the company acquired the Nevada Club casino in Laughlin, Nevada, and re-branded it as the Golden Nugget Laughlin. Wynns first major casino on the Las Vegas Strip was The Mirage and it was the first time Wynn was involved with the design and construction of a casino, and he financed the $630 million project largely with high-yield bonds issued by Michael Milken. The resorts high cost and emphasis on luxury meant that it was considered high risk at the time, the hotel, with its erupting volcano and South Seas theme, ignited a $12 billion building boom on the Strip
11.
Mobil Guide
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Forbes Travel Guide is a star rating service and series of travel guides for hotels, restaurants and spas. ForbesTravelGuide. com combines Forbes Travel Guide’s Five-Star travel ratings system with insights, founded by Mobil in 1958, Forbes Travel Guide is the oldest travel guide in the United States. Ratings are given by anonymous, paid members in stars. A Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star rating is an honor, with only 115 hotels and 55 restaurants receiving the top honor. Initially guides were regional and limited to the United States and Canada, the first, issued in 1958, covered five states in the Southwest and South Central United States. In 1960, this guide was revised and volumes covering the Northeastern States, the Great Lakes, and California, Guides covering the Middle Atlantic States and the Northwestern states were introduced in 1962. In 1965, a guide for the Southeastern States was introduced, although only one state covered by this volume, later, the number of volumes was expanded, as regions covered by the guide shrank. For instance, California was covered by two volumes, one for the north and one for the south, published in print by ExxonMobil Travel Publications, until 2011, the guide was published online by HowStuffWorks. com. In October 2009, ExxonMobil licensed the brand to the Five Star Ratings Corporation, Five Star Travel Corporation entered into a licensing agreement with Forbes Media, and renamed the Star Awards and guidebook series, Forbes Travel Guide. Forbes Travel Guides new online home, ForbesTravelGuide. com, was launched in 2011, the Mobil Travel Guide Star Ratings provided ratings and reviews of hotels, restaurants and spas on a scale of one star to five stars starting in 1958
12.
Mirage Resorts
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Mirage Resorts, previously Golden Nugget Companies, was an American company that owned and operated hotel-casinos. It was acquired by MGM Grand Inc. in 2000, forming MGM Mirage, Golden Nugget Companies Inc. was formed by Steve Wynn in 1973. The company was created after Wynn acquired majority control of the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas, the property was sold to Ballys Entertainment, and eventually became Ballys Grand Hotel and Casino. In 1989, the acquired the Nevada Club casino in Laughlin, Nevada. Wynns first major casino on the Las Vegas Strip was The Mirage and it was the first time Wynn was involved with the design and construction of a casino, and he financed the $630 million project largely with high-yield bonds issued by Michael Milken. The resorts high cost and emphasis on luxury meant that it was considered high risk at the time, the hotel, with its erupting volcano and South Seas theme, ignited a $12 billion building boom on the Strip. Known for its entertainment, the became the main venue for the Siegfried & Roy show in 1990. Afterwards Wynn decided to invite Cirque to create Mystère for the soon-to-be-built Treasure Island resort next door, following the completion of The Mirage in 1989 the name of the company was changed to Mirage Resorts, Inc. Much of the financing for the Mirage was obtained in cooperation with Mike Milken, after Mirage, Wynns next project Treasure Island Hotel and Casino opened in the Mirages old parking lot in 1993, and overall cost $450 million. Intended to be family-friendly, pools in front of the casino enacted the Battle of Buccaneer Bay with two full-sized pirate ships, while the inside featured romantic tropical theming, the resort sits on 44 acres, occupied by the Dunes Hotel golf course until its demolition in October 1993. In 1995, the company proposed to build the Le Jardin hotel-casino in the area if the state of New Jersey built a road that connected to the hotel-casino. The company had agreed to allow Circus Circus Enterprises and Boyd Gaming to build casinos on the site. Boardwalk Hotel and Casino was later acquired by Mirage Resorts in 1997, in October 1998, Wynn opened the even more opulent Bellagio, a $1.6 billion resort considered among the world’s most spectacular hotels. The architect was Jon Jerde of The Jerde Partnerships, and construction was handled by Mirage Resorts, when built, the Bellagio was the most expensive hotel in the world. In front of the hotel are the Fountains of Bellagio—shooting fountains choreographed to music that “dance” on the hotel’s 8.5 acre man-made lake—which are now considered Las Vegas landmarks, the Bellagio is credited with starting a new spree of luxurious developments in Las Vegas. Among these developments include The Venetian, Mandalay Bay, and Paris Las Vegas, Wynn brought Mirage Resorts’ style to Biloxi, Mississippi in 1999, where he oversaw development of the 1, 835-room Beau Rivage. Themed to blend Mediterranean beauty with Southern hospitality, the resort was part of a boom that established Biloxi as a regional tourism center along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Beau Rivage was originally the name Wynn wanted to give the Bellagio, Beau Rivage opened as the largest hotel-casino to be built outside Nevada
13.
MGM Resorts International
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The company recently opened MGM National Harbor in Maryland and is developing MGM Springfield in Massachusetts. It has a majority interest in MGM China Holdings Limited, which owns the MGM Macau resort, MGM Resorts owns 50 percent of CityCenter in Las Vegas, which features ARIA Resort & Casino. It has a majority controlling interest in MGM Growth Properties, a real estate investment trust, the company began operations in 1987 as MGM Grand, Inc. and became MGM Mirage in 2000, after acquiring Mirage Resorts. City Centers development coincided with financial crisis, causing writedowns in its valuation. In June 2010, the changed to its present name, to reflect its latest strategy of expanding worldwide, including licensing its brand and expertise to develop non-gaming hotels. Following a one-billion-dollar stock offering by MGM Mirage amidst the global credit crunch, on June 15,2010, shareholders voted for MGM Mirage to change its name to MGM Resorts International, which emphasizes the brands global scope and increased non-gaming strategy. In 2013, MGM won state licenses to build a resort in National Harbor, Maryland. In May 2014, MGM broke ground on an arena on the Las Vegas Strip with sports. MGM Resorts is the majority owner of MGM Growth Properties LLC and it became a separate, publicly traded company in April 2016. Among the companys management ranks, more than 38 percent are minorities, FORTUNE magazine has named MGM Resorts one of the World’s Most Admired Companies. The companys background can be traced to 1969, when airline, when the Las Vegas Hilton, the casino he had built, subsequently became the most successful hotel in Las Vegas, Kerkorian was inspired to lead the studio into the gambling industry. It opened the original MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in 1973, the MGM Grand Reno followed in 1978. By 1979, the two hotel-casinos accounted for most of MGMs income, and the company announced a plan to split itself in two. The next year, the studio was spun off as a new company, while the original company. Kerkorian held a 47 percent stake in both companies, in 1985, Kerkorian began seeking a buyer for MGM Grand Hotels, to allow him to concentrate on running United Artists and on developing new properties under the MGM Grand name. A deal was reached for Bally Manufacturing to buy the company, the closed in April 1986. The company now known as MGM Resorts International was formed in 1986 as Grand Name Co. as a subsidiary of Kerkorians Tracinda Corporation and it was renamed the following year as MGM Grand, Inc. The companys first venture was MGM Grand Air, a luxury airline offering service between New York and Los Angeles, which launched in September 1987
14.
Slot machine
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A slot machine, informally fruit machine, puggy, the slots, poker machine or simply slot, is a casino gambling machine with three or more reels which spin when a button is pushed. Many modern machines are equipped with a legacy lever in addition to the button. Slot machines include a currency detector that validates the money inserted to play, the machine pays off according to patterns of symbols visible on the front of the machine when it stops. Modern computer technology has resulted in variations on the slot machine concept, Slot machines are the most popular gambling method in casinos and constitute about 70 percent of the average US casinos income. The slot machine term derives from the slots on the machine for inserting and retrieving coins, fruit machine comes from the traditional fruit images on the spinning reels, such as lemons and cherries. Sittman and Pitt of Brooklyn, New York, U. S. developed a machine in 1891 which was a precursor to the modern slot machine. It contained five drums holding a total of 50 card faces and was based on poker and this machine proved extremely popular and soon many bars in the city had one or more of the machines. Players would insert a nickel and pull a lever, which would spin the drums and the cards they held, the player hoping for a good poker hand. To make the better for the house, two cards were typically removed from the deck, the ten of spades and the jack of hearts. The drums could also be rearranged to further reduce a players chance of winning, the bell gave the machine its name. Three bells in a row produced the biggest payoff, ten nickels, Liberty Bell was a huge success and spawned a thriving mechanical gaming device industry. Even when the use of these devices was banned in his home state after a few years. The Liberty Bell machine was so popular that it was copied by many slot machine manufacturers, thus in 1907, manufacturer Herbert Mills from Chicago produced a slot machine called the Operator Bell. By 1908 lots of bell machines were installed in most cigar stores, saloons, bowling alleys, brothels, early machines, including an 1899 Liberty Bell, are now part of the Nevada State Museums Fey Collection. Other early machines, such as the trade stimulator, gave out winnings in the form of fruit-flavoured chewing gums with pictures of the flavours as symbols on the reels, the popular cherry and melon symbols derive from this machine. The BAR symbol now common in slot machines was derived from a logo of the Bell-Fruit Gum Company. In these cases, a mint vending machine was declared to be a device because by chance the machine would occasionally give the next user a number of tokens exchangeable for more candy. Despite the fact that the result of the next use would be displayed on the machine, the courts ruled that he appealed to the players propensity to gamble
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Fox Broadcasting Company
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The Fox Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcast television network that is owned by the Fox Entertainment Group subsidiary of 21st Century Fox. It is the third largest major network in the world based on total revenues, assets. Launched on October 9,1986 as a competitor to the Big Three television networks, Fox and its affiliated companies operate many entertainment channels in international markets, although these do not necessarily air the same programming as the U. S. network. Most viewers in Canada have access to at least one U. S, the network is named after sister company 20th Century Fox, and indirectly for producer William Fox, who founded one of the movie studios predecessors, Fox Film. Fox is a member of the North American Broadcasters Association and the National Association of Broadcasters, 20th Century Fox had been involved in television production as early as the 1950s, producing several syndicated programs. Following the demise of the DuMont Television Network in August of that year after it became mired in financial problems. 20th Century Fox would also produce original content for the NTA network, KTTV in Los Angeles, KRIV in Houston, WFLD-TV in Chicago, and KRLD-TV in Dallas. In October 1985, 20th Century Fox announced its intentions to form a television network that would compete with ABC, CBS. The plans were to use the combination of the Fox studios, organizational plans for the network were held off until the Metromedia acquisitions cleared regulatory hurdles. Then, in December 1985, Rupert Murdoch agreed to pay $325 million to acquire the remaining equity in TCF Holdings from his original partner, Marvin Davis. These first six stations, then broadcasting to a reach of 22% of the nations households. Except for KDAF, all of the original owned-and-operated stations are part of the Fox network today. Like the core O&O group, Foxs affiliate body consisted of independent stations. The Fox Broadcasting Company launched at 11,00 p. m. Eastern and its inaugural program was a late-night talk show, The Late Show, which was hosted by comedian Joan Rivers. By early 1987, Rivers quit The Late Show after disagreements with the network over the creative direction. The network expanded its programming into prime time on April 5,1987, with Children and the sketch comedy series The Tracey Ullman Show. Fox added one new show per week over the several weeks, with the drama 21 Jump Street. On July 11, the network rolled out its Saturday night schedule with the premiere of the drama series Werewolf
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Hand of Faith
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The Hand of Faith is a nugget of fine-quality gold that was found by Kevin Hillier using a metal detector near Kingower, Victoria, Australia on 26 September 1980. Weighing 875 troy ounces, the gold nugget was only 12 inches below the surface, the announcement of the discovery occurred at a press conference, attended by the Premier of Victoria Dick Hamer, in Melbourne on 8 October 1980. Kovacs Gems & Minerals were appointed agents for the sale of the nugget, by the gold nugget finder. It was sold to the Golden Nugget Las Vegas, a casino in Las Vegas, Nevada and it was initially incorrectly stated as weighing only 720 ozt, but after correction, the new calculation was 874.82 ozt. This explains why some publications continue to give an incorrect weight and it is still regarded as the largest modern nugget found by a metal detector, anywhere in the world. Dimensions are 47 cm ×20 cm ×9 cm, the sale price was supposedly around $US1m. The nugget was the second largest nugget found in Australia during the 20th century, there were numerous nuggets found during the Victorian gold rush era, commencing in the 1850s, that were far larger. Hand of Faith Website Hand of Faith on Facebook Hand of Faith at the Golden Nugget Casino See Real Gold at Golden Nugget in Atlantic City
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Houston
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Houston is the most populous city in the state of Texas and the fourth-most populous city in the United States. With a census-estimated 2014 population of 2.239 million within an area of 667 square miles, it also is the largest city in the southern United States and the seat of Harris County. Located in Southeast Texas near the Gulf of Mexico, it is the city of Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land. Houston was founded on August 28,1836, near the banks of Buffalo Bayou and incorporated as a city on June 5,1837. The city was named after former General Sam Houston, who was president of the Republic of Texas and had commanded, the burgeoning port and railroad industry, combined with oil discovery in 1901, has induced continual surges in the citys population. Houstons economy has an industrial base in energy, manufacturing, aeronautics. Leading in health care sectors and building equipment, Houston has more Fortune 500 headquarters within its city limits than any city except for New York City. The Port of Houston ranks first in the United States in international waterborne tonnage handled, the city has a population from various ethnic and religious backgrounds and a large and growing international community. Houston is the most diverse city in Texas and has described as the most diverse in the United States. It is home to cultural institutions and exhibits, which attract more than 7 million visitors a year to the Museum District. Houston has a visual and performing arts scene in the Theater District. In August 1836, two real estate entrepreneurs from New York, Augustus Chapman Allen and John Kirby Allen, purchased 6,642 acres of land along Buffalo Bayou with the intent of founding a city. The Allen brothers decided to name the city after Sam Houston, the general at the Battle of San Jacinto. The great majority of slaves in Texas came with their owners from the slave states. Sizable numbers, however, came through the slave trade. New Orleans was the center of trade in the Deep South. Thousands of enslaved African Americans lived near the city before the Civil War, many of them near the city worked on sugar and cotton plantations, while most of those in the city limits had domestic and artisan jobs. Houston was granted incorporation on June 5,1837, with James S. Holman becoming its first mayor, in the same year, Houston became the county seat of Harrisburg County and the temporary capital of the Republic of Texas
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Golden Nugget Laughlin
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Golden Nugget Laughlin is an American casino-resort located on the banks of the Colorado River in Laughlin, Nevada, owned and operated by Landrys, Inc. The tropical-themed resort offers a number of restaurants,300 guest rooms and suites, Golden Nugget offers water taxi service from Bullhead City, Arizona, on the opposite side of the river. There are several Landry’s, Inc. restaurants at Golden Nugget, including Claim Jumper, Saltgrass Steak House, the Golden Nugget Laughlin was previously known as the Nevada Club. In 1986 the resort underwent a major renovation and it was acquired by Mirage Resorts in 1989. In 2004, it was acquired by Poster Financial Group, Inc and it was acquired by Landry’s, Inc. on May 31,2005, which was purchasing Golden Nugget Las Vegas at the same time
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James Bond
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The James Bond series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. The latest novel is Trigger Mortis by Anthony Horowitz, published in September 2015, additionally Charlie Higson wrote a series on a young James Bond, and Kate Westbrook wrote three novels based on the diaries of a recurring series character, Moneypenny. The character has also adapted for television, radio, comic strip, video games. As of 2017, there have been twenty-four films in the Eon Productions series, the most recent Bond film, Spectre, stars Daniel Craig in his fourth portrayal of Bond, he is the sixth actor to play Bond in the Eon series. There have also two independent productions of Bond films, Casino Royale and Never Say Never Again. In 2015, the franchise was estimated to be worth $19.9 billion, the Bond films are renowned for a number of features, including the musical accompaniment, with the theme songs having received Academy Award nominations on several occasions, and two wins. Other important elements which run through most of the films include Bonds cars, his guns, the films are also noted for Bonds relationships with various women, who are sometimes referred to as Bond girls. Ian Fleming created the character of James Bond as the central figure for his works. Bond is an officer in the Secret Intelligence Service, commonly known as MI6. Bond is known by his number,007, and was a Royal Naval Reserve Commander. Among those types were his brother, Peter, who had involved in behind-the-lines operations in Norway. Aside from Flemings brother, a number of others also provided some aspects of Bonds make up, including Conrad OBrien-ffrench, Patrick Dalzel-Job and Bill Biffy Dunderdale. The name James Bond came from that of the American ornithologist James Bond, a Caribbean bird expert and author of the definitive field guide Birds of the West Indies. He further explained that, When I wrote the first one in 1953, I wanted Bond to be a dull, uninteresting man to whom things happened. When I was casting around for a name for my protagonist I thought by God, is the dullest name I ever heard. On another occasion, Fleming said, I wanted the simplest, dullest, plainest-sounding name I could find, James Bond was much better than something more interesting, like Peregrine Carruthers. Exotic things would happen to and around him, but he would be a neutral figure—an anonymous, likewise, in Moonraker, Special Branch Officer Gala Brand thinks that Bond is certainly good-looking. Rather like Hoagy Carmichael in a way and that black hair falling down over the right eyebrow
