Chicago Sun-Times: Sands of time

1864: To assure his re-election, President Abraham Lincoln waives the 60,000-residents requirement for statehood and proclaims Nevada a state. It acquires the slogan the "Battle-Born State" as it was incorporated during the Civil War. Forty-one years later, Las Vegas ("The Meadows") is incorporated as a city.

1906: The Golden Gate Hotel & Casino opens in downtown Las Vegas.

1931: The construction of Boulder Dam (later renamed Hoover Dam) begins.

1941: The El Rancho Las Vegas opens as the city's first full-out hotel/resort along the stretch of highway that would become the Strip. It became the place for Los Angeles wives to wait out the terms of their six-week "quickie" Nevada divorce proceedings.

1942: Actress Carole Lombard, along with 15 U.S. Army pilots embarking on a war bonds promotional tour, is killed in a plane crash along a Nevada mountain range some 30 miles southwest of Las Vegas. The plane had taken off from Las Vegas, one-half hour before the crash. Her husband, Clark Gable, was staying at the El Rancho when he got the devastating news.

1946: The Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino opens in downtown Las Vegas. Mobster Benjamin "don't call me Bugsy" Siegel unveils the visionary Flamingo up the barren road from the El Rancho. The mob carries out a hit on Siegel a year later in the Los Angeles home of his paramour Virginia Hill.

1950: The three-story Desert Inn opens its luxurious doors at the north end of the Strip, becoming the tallest structure in Las Vegas.

1952: The Sands and the Sahara hotel/casinos roll onto the scene.

1955: Las Vegas gets its first official high-rise with the opening of the nine-story Riviera Hotel/Casino. Liberace strikes a chord there; his salary makes him the highest-paid entertainer in the city's history. The Liberace Museum will open its doors in 1979.

1960: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford and a host of others descend on Las Vegas for what would be called "The Summit." By day, they film "Ocean's 11." By night, they cavort at the Sands Hotel where they perform two shows to overflowing crowds, then deal cards at the blackjack tables afterward. The cover charge is $5.95 and includes dinner.

1966: Las Vegas gets its first "themed" resort when Caesars Palace brings ancient Rome to the desert. With its collection of haute couture boutiques, the resort's indoor Forum Shops shopping promenade becomes the most profitable shopping area in the world.

1967: Elvis marries Priscilla Beaulieu at the Aladdin Hotel.

1969: "The King" makes his career comeback by signing with the International Hotel in 1969 for a four-week, 57-show sold-out engagement.

1970: Slot machines take a giant step forward technologically, as the antiquated mechanical machines are replaced by multicoin machines and video machines.

1973: The 26-story MGM Grand stands tall as the anchor to the south end of the Strip. The first true mega-resort on the Strip would be the site of a deadly fire in 1980 in which 85 people died (fire sprinklers were not yet required under Nevada law). It was the second-worst hotel fire in U.S. history (the Winecoff Hotel in Atlanta in 1946 claimed 119 lives) .

1989: Millionaire/visionary Steve Wynn wows with his 3,049-room Mirage Hotel and Casino in the heart of the Strip at an unprecedented cost of $620 million. The hotel boasts an erupting volcano, tropical gardens and "Siegfried & Roy," the first mega- production show on the Strip with big-name stars.

1993: Wynn opens Treasure Island, his pirate-themed resort adjacent to the Mirage. Its Buccaneer Bay Pirate Battle (which was retired last year) became one of the biggest free attractions on the Strip. Montreal-based Cirque du Soleil opens "Mystere," its first permanent Las Vegas production, at Treasure Island. Across town, at a record-setting cost of $1 billion, the new MGM Grand Hotel opens its doors with just over 5,000 rooms, making it the largest hotel in the world.

1997: Mike Tyson takes a bite out of Evander Holyfield's ear during an infamous fight for the heavyweight title. At the time, it was the biggest gate (including pay-per-view revenues) in boxing history.

1998: Wynn opens The Bellagio, the most expensive property ($1.6 billion) and perhaps most beautiful to date. The Mediterranean- themed resort comes complete with its own 8-acre lake, the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Arts, and a $30 million choreographed water ballet spectacle courtesy of the 1,000 water-jet dancing fountains of Bellagio on the Strip. Cirque du Soleil goes off the deep end with its aquatic-themed "O," its second permanent production on the Strip, housed at the exclusive hotel.

2004: Cirque du Soleil artisans freak out viewers with the provocative "Zumanity." It's the third permanent production in Las Vegas, at the New York-New York resort.

2005: Cirque du Soleil creates an unprecedented fourth permanent production in town, the fiery, Eastern-influenced "KA" at the MGM Grand. The company will raise the curtain on its fifth Las Vegas show in 2006, with a Cirque-Beatles production at the Mirage.

April 28, 2005: Casino impresario Steve Wynn does it again. He plans to open Wynn Las Vegas, his signature bronze-colored resort on the site once occupied by the Desert Inn Resort. At a cost of more than $2 billion, it is the most expensive resort property in Las Vegas history. He touts his newest baby in a commercial during the Oscars telecast where he stands atop the resort, proclaiming, "This is my new hotel, the only one I've ever signed my name to."

Compiled by Miriam Di Nunzio