Monthly Archives: August 2018

On This Date August 7, 1966 – Performer “Charo” Weds in Las Vegas at Caesars Palace

August 7, 2018
Charo, age 20, Weds Xavier Cugat, age 60, in Las Vegas at Caesars Palace

Charo, age 20, Weds  in Las Vegas

On this date: August 7, 1966 – Latin music king Xavier Cugat, age 60, and singer Charo, age 20, were the first couple to exchange vows at Caesars Palace. Cugat discovered Charo — whose birth name is María Rosario Pilar Martínez Molina Baeza, while performing in Spain in a production of “Night of the Iguana.” She went on to bring a little “Coochie, coochie” into the lives of millions.

There’s been much speculation over the entertainer’s birth year. Official documents from Spain say she was born in 1941. Later on, she claimed she was born in 1947, then 1949. In 1977, following the divorce from her first husband, Charo claimed the age on her passport was wrong and she was actually born in 1951. A U.S. judge supported her claim.

Photo by: Las Vegas News Bureau

Posted by: Vegas Info      catagory On This Date comments 6 Comments

On This Date: August 5, 1966 Caesars Palace Opened

August 5, 2018
Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip

Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip

Caesars Palace is a luxury hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip. Caesars Palace is currently owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment Corporation. Caesars is located on the west side of the Strip, between the Bellagio and the Mirage. The hotel includes a convention facility of over 300,000 square feet and it has 3,960 rooms in six towers.

Caesars Palace opened on August 5, 1966 making it the 16th hotel on the Las Vegas Blvd. also known as the famous Las Vegas “Strip”.

Some additional panoramic photos of Caesars in 1999.

Many movies have been filmed at Caesars over the years, including: The Electric Horseman, Rocky III, Rain Man, Oh, God! You Devil, Ocean’s Eleven 2001, The Hangover and The Hangover III.

On December 31, 1967, Evel Knievel unsuccessfully tried to jump 141 feet over the hotel’s water fountain with his motorcycle. In 1980, Gary Wells gained much media coverage, and much physical suffering, when he unsuccessfully tried to jump a motorcycle over a water fountain at the Caesars Palace. He sustained injuries to many different parts of his body. In 1989, Robbie Knievel successfully completed what his father could not do years before by completing the fountain jump. On May 4, 2006, Mike Metzger became the first person to ever back-flip on a motorcycle over the fountains.

A Formula One World Championship car race event was held at Caesars Palace in 1981 and 1982 called the Caesars Palace Grand Prix.

Caesars Palace hosted many top international performers, such as Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Rod Stewart, Celine Dion, Cher, Bette Midler, Liberace, Liza Minnelli, Elton John, George Burns, Pilita Corrales, Pat Cooper, Diana Ross, Paul Anka, Julio Iglesias, Judy Garland, David Copperfield, Stevie Nicks, Dolly Parton, Tony Bennett, Gloria Estefan, Phyllis Diller, Luis Miguel, Janet Jackson, Shania Twain, Jerry Seinfeld, Harry Belafonte and Mariah Carey to mention a few.

Photo By: Wikipedia.org

 

Posted by: Vegas Info      catagory On This Date, The Strip comments 1 Comment