FROM BOBBY DARIN’S ARRIVAL TO A MOB HIT TO BELLAGIO’S OPENING
Bobby Darin -Wikimedia Commons
October 9, 1957: Singer Bobby Darin, at 22, becomes the youngest performer to headline at the Sands Hotel Copa Room, the premier Vegas showroom of its time and the favorite hangout of the Rat Pack. The old record, 23, was held by Johnny Mathis.
October 10, 1987: Olympic champions Florence Griffith and Al Joyner drive from Los Angeles to Las Vegas for an impromptu wedding, nine days after a big earthquake scares her into thinking she might die before she gets married. She dies tragically in her sleep 11 years later.
October 11, 1979: Mobster Jerry Lisner is found shot to death in the pool at his Las Vegas home. Lisner was facing trial and local kingpin Tony Spilotro feared he would cut a deal and testify against the Chicago mob active in Vegas. The murder by local gangster Frank Cullotta is depicted in the movie Casino.
October 12, 2008: After a night of dinner and gambling, Jennifer Lopez and husband Marc Anthony renew their wedding vows – along with New York Mets outfielder Carlos Beltran and his wife Jessica – at Caesars Palace. They hold another vow-renewal ceremony two years later before divorcing in 2011.
October 13, 2000: The second episode of CSI, a gritty crime show portraying Las Vegas detectives who solve murders using physical evidence and scientific sleuthing, airs on CBS, with the show already a hit. It spawns spinoffs set in New York and Miami, as well as a host of other imitators.
October 14, 2008: The annual PGA stop in Las Vegas is reborn as the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. Timberlake, an avid golfer, retains the tradition of having two showgirls flank the champion as the trophy is presented. Marc Turnesa wins that week’s inaugural tourney.
October 15, 1998: Steve Wynn opens the $1.6 billion, 3,026-room Bellagio, ushering in a new era of Vegas luxury with festivities reporting to cost $88 million. Among the attractions are magnificent dancing fountains, a massive Dale Chihuly glass sculpture, an art museum and a botanical garden.
—Researched and written by Mike Precker
Sands Hotel Copa Room -Wikimedia Commons