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Miss Atomic Bomb to Ali: Las Vegas’s 75 greatest photos presented

The atomic mushroom cloud from The Priscilla Test, part of Operation Plumbbob, raised over Fremont Street on June 24, 1957. Las Vegas News Bureau photographer Don English accidentally captured this iconic image when he slept in and had to rush downtown to capture the blast on top of the drugstore. English recalls that he looked up, "and by gosh all of a sudden there was the mushroom cloud right between Vegas Vic and the Pioneer Club, absolute perfectly in the center." This famous image was published around the world and won Life Magazine's "picture of the week."

Muhammad Ali at his weigh-in at Caesars Palace on Feb. 14, 1973, proceeding his match against Joe Bugner. Gene Kilroy, Ali's business manager stated that, "He always loved Las Vegas, and Las Vegas always loved him ... They were the perfect match for each other. He loved to entertain, and Vegas is the entertainment capital of the world."

Ringo Starr, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Paul McCartney arrived at McCarran Airport on August 20, 1964. They performed two sold-out concerts to 17,000 fans at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Binion's Horseshoe casino was known for its million dollar display. Pictured here, Benny Binion, the original founder of the casino, and his daughter Becky Binion are posed next to the attraction on June 4, 1969.

The Clark County Fair and Recreation Board was created in 1955 to develop a plan to draw visitors to Las Vegas during the slow weekday periods. City and tourism leaders were convinced that convention business was crucial to the growth of the valley, and they lobbied the Nevada State Legislature for funding. That same year, the Legislature agreed to finance the construction of the Las Vegas Convention Center via a room tax that was levied on hotels and motels in Clark County. The newly constructed Las Vegas Convention Center is pictured here on June 29, 1959.

The Las Vegas Hilton marquee with Elvis Presley as headliner on Jan. 26, 1972. Elvis re-ignited his career with his engagement in Las Vegas. Elvis’ stepbrother Billy Stanley recalls in his autobiography that “we were seeing a whole new side of Elvis …. More than a decade had been erased in one night’s performance; the ‘rebel king’ was back on top of his profession and on top of the world.”

Liberace hanging above his birthday cake in front of the Sahara on May 16, 1967. The publicity photo was recorded by the Las Vegas News Bureau and shared with publications across the nation. His birthday cake was so massive, he had to hang suspended above it in order to cut the cake, which was shared with tourists passing by.

On May 24, 1957, the Las Vegas News Bureau captured the famous “Miss Atomic Bomb” photo to coincide with Operation Plumbbob at the Nevada Test Site. News Bureau photographer, Don English, took the famous photo of the Sands Copa showgirl, thought to be Lee Merlin. The publicity photo is the most published photo in the Las Vegas News Bureau Collection and has appeared and continues to appear in hundreds of publications worldwide.

Wayne Newton at the Flamingo on Nov. 5, 1965. Newton began performing in Las Vegas at the Fremont Hotel when he was only 16 in 1959. He became known as "Mr. Las Vegas," and his images have been utilized by the news bureau to market Las Vegas as the "Entertainment Capital of the World."

The volcano show wowed tourists outside of the Mirage on Jan. 3, 1995. In the 1990s, marketing to families was the newest way to promote Las Vegas, and free shows like the erupting volcano paved the way for those efforts.

Siegfried and Roy performed at the Stardust on Oct. 2, 1980. The duo redefined casino entertainment and established the art of magic as an essential part of the Las Vegas experience. The Las Vegas News Bureau covered their productions from their early work in "Lido de Paris" to their own permanent show at the Mirage. Their photos were used in Las Vegas' marketing efforts and published around the world.

Frank Sinatra at the ticket window of the Fremont Theatre for the premier of his movie Suddenly on Nov. 11, 1954. The News Bureau covered major film and TV stories in Las Vegas and sent the photographs to newspapers around the nation for publication in an effort to market Las Vegas as "The Entertainment Capital of the World."

A model posed underwater to play a slot machine in the pool at the Tropicana April 24, 1969. This publicity stunt, envisioned by the Las Vegas News Bureau, was created to promote Las Vegas as a "Fun in the Sun" destination.

Sally McCloskey, a ballerina and dancer from the Sands hotel, on top of Mount Charleston performing an interpretative dance, "Angel's Dance," with an atomic mushroom cloud in the background on April 6, 1953. Las Vegas News Bureau photographer Don English thought up this publicity stunt, which proved to be a great success. In addition to the local Review-Journal, several other publications across the nation published this photo including Parade, a widely-circulated Sunday newspaper magazine. The Parade's caption stated, "Her task: to interpret the greatest drama of our time in dance rhythms. For high over her sinuous, leaping form rose a symbol no eye could miss: the pale, rising cloud of an atomic bomb just exploded 40 miles away."

Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman is shown presenting the Key to the City of Las Vegas and a proclamation that June 10, 2022 is "Barry Manilow Day" in Las Vegas, backstage at International Theater at Westgate Las Vegas. (Pat Gray/Erik Kabik Photo Group)

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By John Katsilometes / Las Vegas Review-Journal

June 11, 2022 - 7:28 pm

Updated June 12, 2022 - 11:41 am

Forgive the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority for hoarding. They’ve socked away our city’s history snapshots.

Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal shaking hands with Frank Sinatra on Rosenthal’s talk show at the Stardust in August 1977.

The Jackson 5 headlining the old MGM Grand, today’s Bally’s, in August 1974.

Muhammad Ali at the weigh-in for his bout against Joe Bugner on at Caesars Palace on Valentine’s Day, 1973.

Elvis on the Las Vegas Hilton marquee (with Kenny Rogers and The Sweet First Edition in the lounge) in January 1972. Louis Armstrong with Marlene Dietrich at the Riviera in February 1962.

An atomic mushroom cloud in the distance, with the Las Vegas Club and the Pioneer Club in the foreground, June 1957. And a photo of “Miss Atomic Bomb” from May 24, 1957, the most-published Las Vegas News Bureau photo ever.

Those are just a sampling of the Las Vegas News Bureau’s photos of Las Vegas’s past, collected and indexed by the LVCVA. This year the LVCVA Archive celebrates its 75th anniversary. The top 75 photos dating to 1947 are now available in an online gallery, just now available to the public. Go to lvcva.com/who-we-are/75th-anniversary/ to flip through the city’s scrapbook.

The photos were selected from those that have been most requested for publication.

“If it were not for the Las Vegas New Bureau, essential elements of the visual history of Las Vegas starting in the late 1940s would not have been recorded and, just as important, preserved,” says Bob Stoldal, retired television news executive and Las Vegas historian. “History comes alive thanks to the Las Vegas News Bureau.”

The first photo in the series is a a shot of Helldorado Days from May 15, 1947. Nearly every photo is in classic black-and-white. The series is to continue over the coming months. Galleries titled Celebrities, Entertainment, Downtown, Then & Now, Sports and (naturally) Implosions are among the themed collections being planned.

A roundtable of Las Vegas historians is also being enlisted to speak to the collection, and the history of the city, likely in November. There is much to discuss. In all, the collection encompasses more than 7 million images, 11,000 pieces of film and video, and 1,300-linear-feet of manuscripts and artifacts.

The archive is the largest single collection of post-World War II images in the world. As LVCVA CEO Steve Hill says, “We are thrilled to showcase the iconic images that have become synonymous with Las Vegas.”

Locking him up

Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman awarded superstar Barry Manilow a Key to the City of Las Vegas and a proclamation making June 10 Barry Manilow Day, during Manilow’s show at Westgate Las Vegas on Friday night. This was a hand-off performed behind the scenes.

Manilow was said to be too humble to make a big thing of his key award in front of his International Theater crowd.

The Key to the City of Las Vegas is different from the Key to the Las Vegas Strip, awarded by the Clark County Commission (the Strip is actually in Clark County, do not forget it). Katy Perry received a Strip key and proclamation Wednesday at Resorts World.

On Friday, Manilow’s teeming-with-Fanilows audience rejoiced in “Copacabana,” the Donna Summer arrangement of “Could It Be Magic” and, yes, Manilow’s rendition of the State Farm Insurance jingle, “And like a good neighbor, State Farm is theeeere!.”

“My greatest hit!” he calls it.

The mayor and Oscar Goodman took in the show. “He’s still singing his heart out to standing-room-only crowds after 40-plus performing in Las Vegas,” the mayor said in text.

Manilow was to close his run Saturday, returning Sept. 16-18. His 79th birthday is Friday.

Fostering the superstars

David Foster and Katharine McPhee have been added to the “Up Close and Personal With Andrea Bocelli and Friends” Keep Memory Alive fundraiser at Spago in Beverly Hills. The event is 6 p.m. Friday. Money raised at the $10,000-per-guest event benefits KMA, the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health’s charitable organization; the Maria Shriver-led Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement, and the Andrea Bocelli Foundation. Go to keepmemoryalive.org for info, and to support. Cleveland Clinic co-founders Larry and Camille Ruvo are the event’s co-hosts. Longtime Cleveland Clinic supporter (and Spago chef) Wolfgang Puck is running the kitchen.

Cool Hang Alert

Yo, another pop for Gatsby’s Supper Club Gambit Henderson. This place is coming on, especially if you are a fan of trombone bands. I know you are out there. The Las Vegas Boneheads are the trombone-heavy outfit of Curt Miller, Nathan Tanouye, Ilai Macaggi, Falph Pressler, Nate Kimball, Elaine Vivacde Miller, Larry Ebermanm, Ili Geissendoerfer and Steve Flora are bad to the bone at 6 p.m. (doors), 8 p.m. (show). The gig runs to 11 p.m. A $30 F&B minimum per person is the cover. And remember, cocktail-attire dress code enforced. Go to gambithenderson.com for info.

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.