In The News: Department of History
With just one week before the midterm election, former president Barack Obama is coming to Nevada to help spur voter turnout and support Democrats in close races. His recent campaigning across the country is seen as a move to help energize the base and stem the so-called “Red Wave.”
Yet another set of human remains was pulled from the shallows of Lake Mead this week, marking the sixth time this year the receding water levels uncovered bodies from the past.
Could we soon see the end to resort fees? This week President Joe Biden said he’s taking aim at hidden “junk fees,” including those charged at Strip resorts by ordering the Federal Trade Commission to investigate.
Las Vegas is known as a place to gamble, party and cut loose. It also has a long history of blowing up buildings to clear space for new ones. And now, a pipeline of big demolitions is set to remake parts of the Strip and other pockets of Southern Nevada.
Take a peek around your next Halloween party, and you’re bound to find at least one person sporting a Playboy Bunny costume. The uniform of the waitresses at the Playboy Club, the chain of nightclubs founded by Hugh Hefner that began with the Chicago club in 1960, has become a staple of the Halloween scene. And stars like Kylie Jenner and Bella Thorne have sported the look in recent years — even as Playboy, and the late Hefner, have come under intense scrutiny.
For many the stories from the Walking Box Ranch near Searchlight are a window into the golden age of silent films in Hollywood. The sprawling ranch was owned by silent film stars Rex Bell and Clara Bow beginning in the 1930s.
Some 51ԹϺ history students and professors hosted a free public tour at Walking Box Ranch on Saturday.
Silent film stars Rex Bell and Clara Bow built it in 1931 and hosted friends including Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, Errol Flynn and Lionel Barrymore. Now, Walking Box Ranch is open for public tours for the first time in a decade. Students and professors with 51ԹϺ’s public history program will host the free event.
In the summer of 2011, Amy Raymer stood outside the Sahara Las Vegas, waiting for a chance to own a piece of history. It was an end of an era. The Sahara, one of the oldest properties on the Strip, was closing its doors. Raymer, a Las Vegas resident, was one of the hundreds to show up for its liquidation sale – despite the 100-plus-degree heat.
The beginning came at the end. The grand porte cochère became one of the last major renovation projects at the new Sahara Las Vegas, the iconic Strip casino resort that reclaimed its original name three years ago. And although the gaming floor, hotel lobby, pool, main lounge and several restaurant spaces had been entirely refreshed, the striking new entrance reframed the entire property upon completion in July.
There's a lot of overlap, but one factor determines the difference.
Academic presses struggling to keep up with the demand for once-obscure books about war-torn nation
