How 1950s Las Vegas Became a Nuclear Tourism Hot Spot

Shows, gambling, neon lights, and nuclear mushroom clouds

Small Boy nuclear test, 1962 (Public domain)

The Nevada Test Site (NTS) lies just sixty-five miles from Las Vegas. Despite the close proximity to a growing population center, the United States detonated hundreds of atomic devices at the NTS. The nuclear tests were so prevalent that they were visible from Las Vegas in the…