Here's What Las Vegas Looked Like the Year You Were Born

When you think of Las Vegas, you probably imagine dazzling marquees, show-stopping performances, rows of slot machines, and so much more. Get ready to roll the virtual dice on these 80+ photos that capture a slice of Vegas life from the year you were born. Welcome to Sin City...

A crowd gathers around the roulette wheel during the four-day Helldorado celebration.

The completion of the Hoover Dam in 1936 was monumental for Las Vegas, as it generated cheap hydroelectricity used to power Fremont's flashing "Glitter Gulch" signs.

The late 1930s saw the beginning of the "Vegas quickie wedding." Today, approximately 75,000 wedding ceremonies take place in Vegas every year.

A vintage post card from this time proclaims that Las Vegas is the "Scenic Center of the Southwest."

The 91 Club opens on Highway 91, which is also known as Las Vegas Blvd.

Contestants line up for a beauty pageant at the Treasure Island Casino in Las Vegas.

Small crowds of people try their luck at the slot machines inside a cheap Las Vegas bar.

Several ladies enjoy the pool at the El Rancho Vegas hotel and resort–the first hotel on the Vegas Strip.

Blonde bombshell Betty Grable and her new husband Harry James cut a piece of cake following their wedding ceremony on July 6th, 1943.

A woman poses under the marquee at the Western Casino, which stayed in business from 1942–1944 on Fremont Street. Today, Fremont Street is known as "old Vegas" and is located just north of the Vegas Strip. It was the first paved street in the city.

Pictured middle is Bugsy Siegel, a mobster who developed much of the Las Vegas Strip.

A crowd of gamblers gather at the Golden Nugget casino.

Rock Hudson poses on a diving board at the Hotel Flamingo pool.

Singer Tony Martin and his wife Cyd Charisse lounge poolside at the Hotel Flamingo.

The famed Hotel Flamingo, developed by Bugsy Siegel, was one of the most luxurious Vegas hotels of its time.

The Little White Chapel was the place for immediate marriages... a tradition that still holds to this day.

A parade makes its way down a busy Vegas street in celebration of Helldorado Days–a festival hosting the rodeo parade since 1934.

The Desert Inn hotel and casino operated from 1950–2000.

Atomic bomb testing in the nearby desert lights up the night sky near downtown.

Marilyn Maxwell brings her Tiger on stage for a performance at a Las Vegas nightclub.

A casino sets up shop in a hotel pool.

Vegas showgirls get ready in the dressing room before a show.

A stewardess hugs a man after a United Airlines plane, en route from New York to Honolulu, crash landed at the Vegas airport.

Singer Eddie Fisher belts into a microphone as he records his album in a Vegas studio.

The massive marquee at Biff's Las Vegas Club and The Mint.

A woman throws the dice as onlookers eagerly watch.

Frank Sinatra interrupts Joey Bishop on stage during Dean Martin's birthday celebration as Marilyn Monroe and Liz Taylor look on from the audience.

A row of slot machines line the wall at a bus station.

Actor Tony Curtis weds actress Christine Kaufmann at the Hotel Riviera.

Elvis Presley and Ann Margaret film Viva Las Vegas. The musical was one of the most successful films of the year.

Three women play slot machines at the pool casino in the Sands Hotel.

Flashing signs light up the night on Fremont Street.

The famed Caesars Palace, a luxury hotel and casino, opened its doors in 1966. The following year Frank Sinatra signed a three-year deal to perform at the venue.

A view of the early days of the Las Vegas Strip.

Performers Eddie Fisher and Connie Stevens — husband and wife in real life — pose in front of their headline marquees.

A man and woman sit on stools as they play a slot machine.

James Bond actor Sean Connery takes a break while shooting the latest 007 film, Diamonds Are Forever.

Elvis Presley, decked out in a jeweled jumpsuit, performs on stage.

Entertainer Rudi Carrell poses at a slot machine.

The Follies Bergere show at the Hotel Tropicana held a budget of $850,000.

A view of the Las Vegas Boulevard and Riviera Boulevard intersection.

Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and Jerry Lewis perform on stage during the 11th annual Jerry Lewis Vegas telethon.

What happens when a neon sign dies in Vegas? It goes to the neon sign graveyard. There are plenty of them.

Queen performs a set at a Vegas venue.

Sparkling lights reflect on the hoods of cars that drive under the overhang at the Hotel Stardust Casino.

Smoke pours out of the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in a massive fire that struck on November 21st, 1980.

The Circus Casino neon sign, topped with a clown, stands out on the boulevard.

Neon palm trees illuminate the sign at the Oasis Casino inside Dunes Hotel.

A marquee lists the low prices available for breakfast, chicken, or a shrimp cocktail. Less than two dollars for a chicken dinner? Yes, please!

A group of people gather around a casino table to play roulette.

Marvin Hagler celebrates his victorious fight against Thomas Hearns at Caesars Palace.

Advertisements and the Glitter Gulch casino letters sparkle in marquee lights.

American singer-songwriter Screamin' Jay Hawkins performing at The Palomino.

Magicians Siegfried & Roy pose with their tiger co-performers.

Colorful neon signs dazzle Fremont Street.

An aerial photo of the flashing Rio resort sign. The hotel and casino opened in 1990 and is home to the World Series of Poker.

The Plaza Hotel and Casino was formerly the location of the first train station in Las Vegas.

The Morocco Motel marquee lights up the Vegas Strip.

Famed illusionists Siegfried and Roy standing in front of their billboard at The Mirage. The duo performed their magic show at The Mirage from 1990–2003.

Las Vegas has been the backdrop of many television episodes, including the 1994 NBC special, Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas.

A full moon rests over the city of Las Vegas.

Two passengers speed by on the 'High Roller' roller coaster, which operated from 1996–2005.

The Statue of Liberty replica as she stands in the New York, New York area of the Vegas Strip. The hotel/casino opened its doors in 1997.

The Aladdin Hotel, which was erected in 1966, implodes in a controlled explosion to make way for the $1.3 billion Bellagio Hotel.

The Eiffel Tower replica being constructed at the Paris Hotel on the Vegas Strip. Construction was completed in the fall of 1999.

The MGM Grand Hotel was the largest single hotel in the United States at the time of its opening in 1993.

A view of the Paris Hotel a few years after the area completed construction.

An aerial view of the Las Vegas Strip at night.

Caesars Palace towers over the fountains below.

The Excalibur hotel, which opened its doors in 1990, is designed after a medieval castle.

An aerial view of the Mandalay Bay resort and casino, which was added to the Vegas skyline in 1999.

Traffic fills the boulevard along the iconic Las Vegas Strip.

The New Frontier Hotel & Casino gets ready to implode on the night of November 13, 2007, after operating since 1942.

Construction on the Vegas shopping center and complex well underway.

The Palms Hotel and Casino has been a staple on the Vegas scene since it opened its doors in 2001.

Inside the elegant and glitzy Venetian Hotel and Casino lobby.

The suburbs surrounding the city are a steady reminder that some people call the Vegas-desert home. Nearly 650,000 people are residents of Las Vegas.

Visitors enjoy an indoor Venetian gondola ride, emulating the riverways of Venice.

High Roller, the world's largest Ferris wheel, opens next to The Flamingo Hotel in 2014.

The view atop the High Roller observation wheel, which sours passengers 550 feet in the air.

An Elvis Presley impersonator stands in front of the iconic "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas Nevada" sign.

Lightning flashes during a thunderous monsoon storm that hit the desert for two days in 2016.

A candlelight vigil is held for those who were lost during the largest mass shooting in Vegas history. The community rallied together after the horrific event took place on October 2, 2017.

Britney Spears announces her new residency at the Park Theater. The pop star signed a reported $500,000 per performance deal.

The exterior of The Cosmopolitan tower. The Blackstone Group LP purchased the property for $1.73 million in 2014.