Las Vegas Grew 7x in 20 Years. The Cause Wasn't Gambling

In 1940, Las Vegas had 8,422 people. By 1960 it had 64,405, more than 7 times bigger in just 20 years. And it wasn't gambling. Nevada legalized casino gambling in 1931, and Las Vegas barely moved. This is the history of Las Vegas, and the machine that turned "the meadows" into a desert city of 2.4 million. In this Las Vegas documentary: → The springs that gave Las Vegas its name, and why they ran dry → The 1905 land auction and the Hoover Dam heat deaths → Life before AC: wet sheets, pneumonia and an ice plant built for fruit → El Rancho Vegas, the first resort on the Las Vegas Strip, with its AC hidden in a windmill → Bugsy Siegel, the Atomic City and the boom → Why casinos are freezing (and the oxygen myth) → Lake Mead, the "third straw" and what happens when the power fails Chapters 0:00 The day the pavement burned 1:58 The meadows 3:19 A town sold in a tent camp 3:55 The dam and the deadly summer 4:33 Before the machine 6:31 Something had to change indoors 7:44 El Rancho Vegas and the birth of the Strip 8:52 The boom 10:07 The real Las Vegas invention 10:37 The bigger straw 12:05 When the machine stops 13:50 The house always wins Watch the Phoenix video next: The ENTIRE History of Phoenix, the city air conditioning built → [link] What machine, mill, mine or dam built your town? Tell me in the comments. It might be the next city we cover. #LasVegasHistory #LasVegas #AmericanHistory