The real thing—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr—arrived at McCarran airport on August 20, 1964, at about 1 a.m. A car took them to the Sahara, where they stayed in a suite—literally. About two thousand fans had come to greet them. Local officials didn’t want them going to casinos because they feared that their underage fans would follow them and get into trouble. The only outsiders to get in were a reporter and photographer from the Las Vegas Sun. One of them showed Ringo how to make the television set work.

Few structures shaped the modern American West like Hoover Dam. Rising from Black Canyon in the 1930s, the massive concrete arch structure, finished in the Art Deco style of the era, tamed the Colorado River, created Lake Mead and helped power a growing Southwest. But at the time, its importance to Southern Nevada was less about water and more about survival.

Heightened tensions tied to the conflict in the Middle East, along with a recent shooting in Austin that left at least two people dead last weekend, have prompted renewed warnings from former FBI officials about the risk of terrorism and the importance of reporting suspicious behavior.

UNLV history department chair Michael Green said Stephanie Street “bridges the older part of Henderson, the part that was associated with the 40s and 50s when that was developing, and all of the things that have gone on since.” He added, “Its growth reflects Henderson’s growth.”

How to describe Sammy Davis, Jr., in just a few words? Maybe the best way came from the mother of the historian who writes this program. His parents got married in Las Vegas in 1964. They stayed at the Sahara, where Tony Bennett was in the showroom, but they went down the street to see Sammy at the Sands. He asked his mother if they saw another show. She replied, “Once you’ve seen Sammy Davis, Jr., you don’t need to see another show.”

Sammy Davis, Jr. was a true giant of entertainment. For nearly half a century, he was a Las Vegas fixture.

On a fall night in 1982, mob figure Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal was almost blown up outside a Tony Roma’s in Las Vegas – a harrowing attack portrayed in the opening scene of “Casino.” More than 40 years after the infamous car bombing, the Tony Roma’s building is home to a sex-toy shop, and a neighboring former Marie Callender’s is boarded-up. Now the plaza itself where Rosenthal was nearly killed in a suspected mob hit has been sold.  

No Nevadan affected his state more in the 20th century than Pat McCarran. He was Nevada's first native born United States Senator. Raised on his family sheep ranch outside of Reno. He entered politics in 1902 as a Democratic candidate for the assembly at the age of 26. His support came from forces trying to elect another Nevada's powerful politician, Francis Newlands to the United States Senate.