| 3000 BC | Nomadic native peoples camped at the Las Vegas Springs as early as 3000 BC. The Anasazi, Pueblo peoples, and Southern Paiutes lived at the Springs until 1902. |
| Early 1800s | Spanish traders forged a path from New Mexico to California that became known as the Old Spanish Trail. |
| 1830-1848 | Spanish trading caravans from New Mexico crossed the Las Vegas valley along the Spanish Trail, naming the area "Las Vegas" meaning "the meadows." |
| 1844 | John C. Fremont led an expedition through the valley, correctly mapping the location of the Springs. Fremont's published map guided thousands of Gold Rush-era immigrants to California by way of the Las Vegas Springs. |
| 1855 - 1858 | The Mormons settle a mission between Salt Lake City and San Bernardino, now called the Old Mormon Fort, where hundreds of wagon trains stopped for water from the Las Vegas creek. |
| 1858 | The mission was abandoned by the Mormons after only three years and subsequently occupied by pioneer Octavius Decatur Gass who created a rancho that spread across much of what is now downtown Las Vegas. |
| 1882-1902 | Gass forfeited his ranch to Archibald and Helen J. Stewart. Although Archibald was killed less than two years later, Helen continued to raise cattle and crops at the ranch using the Springs' plentiful water supply. |
| 1902 | Montana Senator William Clark's San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad Co. purchased Stewart's land and the rights to the Las Vegas Springs' water, which was vital to the railroad's steam locomotives. |
| May 15, 1905 | The railroad auctions off parcels of land and creates a town site, calling it "Las Vegas." The town's new residents receive water piped from the Springs through hollow redwood logs. |
| 1906 | The Golden Gate Hotel & Casino opens in downtown Las Vegas and remains open today |
| 1907 | The first telephone is installed |
| 1909 | Clark County is created and named in honor of Montana Senator William A. Clark who brought the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad through Las Vegas. |
| 1915 | The first 24-hour electricity service is established in Las Vegas |
| 1928 | Congress passes the Boulder Canyon Project Act. |
| 1930 | In response to the Boulder Canyon project, the population of Las Vegas grows from 5,200 to 7,500. |
| 1931 | Boulder Dam construction begins in the midst of the Great Depression. |
| 1931 | Nevada Legislature legalizes gambling and quickie divorces. |
| 1934 | The first Elks Helldorado Parade and Rodeo is staged. |
| 1938 | California Attorney General Earl Warren enforces California laws against gambling causing several operators to leave that state to open casinos in Las Vegas. |
| 1941 | U. S. Army Corps establishes a gunnery school near Las Vegas, later named Nellis Air Force Base. |
| 1941 | El Rancho Vegas opens, and the atmosphere on the Strip changes from small gambling clubs to casinos within a luxury resort hotel. Soon after, the Last Frontier is built. |
| 1945 | The first advertising contract is awarded to J. Walter Thompson to promote Las Vegas as a tourist destination. |
| 1946 | The Golden Nugget opens downtown, while out on the Strip, Bugsy Siegel opens the Flamingo Hotel. |
| 1946 | Nevada levies its first gaming taxes. |
| 1948 | McCarran Field, now called McCarran Airport, opens. |
| 1950 | Wilbur Clark's Desert Inn, the tallest building on the Strip, opens with a three-story sky room. The Sahara, Sands, Riviera, Stardust, Dunes, and Tropicana open during the '50s, each luring visitors with flashy entertainment and neon brilliance. |
| 1955 | The elegant Moulin Rouge opens on Bonanza Road to accommodate black entertainers who were regularly refused service in downtown and Strip hotels and casinos. |
| 1959 | Las Vegas Convention Center opens. |
| 1959 | Nevada Gaming Commission is created by the Legislature. |
| 1960 | Rat Pack legends, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis Jr. and Joey Bishop, take the stage for the first time at the Sands. |
| 1966 | Howard Hughes arrives in Las Vegas and moves into the 9th floor of the Desert Inn. |
| 1966 | Caesars Palace opens -- a monument to Las Vegas excess. |
| 1967 | Elvis and Priscilla Presley are married at the Aladdin Hotel. In 1998, the Arabian-themed resort was removed to make way for a luxurious new Aladdin Hotel and Casino. |
| 1973 | Evel Knievel makes his historic jump over the fountains at Caesars Palace. |
| 1980 | A hotel fire at the MGM Grand (now Bally's) kills 85 people, prompting a change in safety laws and building codes around the country. |
| 1989 | The Mirage opens and starts a building renaissance that reinvigorates Las Vegas during the '90s. Neon is replaced by other eye-catching attractions. |
| 1990 | The Excalibur Hotel, the ultimate in family-friendly resorts, opens on the Strip. |
| 1993 | The Dunes Hotel is sold to Steve Wynn and imploded to make way for the Bellagio. Farther south on the Strip, the world's largest hotel, the MGM Grand, is completed at the cost of $1 billion. |
| 1995 | The Fremont Street Experience opens downtown. |
| 1998 | The first art gallery in Las Vegas featuring multi-million dollar works by master painters opens at the Bellagio. |
| 2000 | MGM Grand Inc. executes a $6 billion take-over of Mirage Resorts Inc., the largest corporate buyout in the history of the gaming industry. |
| 2000-2001 | Historic Desert Inn closes its doors and is bought by casino/hotel entrepreneur Steve Wynn who implodes the Augusta Tower to make way for construction of a new 2,455-room, 42-story hotel called Wynn Las Vegas. |
| 2005 | Las Vegas celebrates its 100th birthday. |
