Caesars Palace
No apostrophe on purpose — because everyone's a Caesar. (Also: Evel Knievel's worst landing.)
Key facts
- Caesars Palace opened in 1966, developed by Jay Sarno; the name deliberately omits the apostrophe, the idea being that every guest is a Caesar, not that the palace belongs to one.
- On December 31, 1967, daredevil Evel Knievel attempted to jump the fountains at Caesars Palace on a motorcycle and crashed badly on landing, suffering severe injuries; footage of the crash made him famous.
- The Forum Shops at Caesars feature a painted “sky” ceiling that cycles slowly from day to night, a much-imitated Las Vegas retail effect.
Narration transcript
On your left, the colonnades, the marble gods and the great sweep of fountains announce Caesars Palace — the most imperial address on the Strip, opened in 1966 by a developer named Jay Sarno, a man who really understood a fantasy. Look closely at the name, though: it's Caesars, no apostrophe. That's not a typo. Sarno left it out on purpose — the idea being that this isn't one Caesar's palace, it's a palace where every guest gets to be a Caesar. Flattery, built into the signage.
Those fountains out front have their own legend. On New Year's Eve, 1967, the daredevil Evel Knievel tried to jump them on a motorcycle. He cleared the fountains — but the landing went horribly wrong, he tumbled across the pavement, and the crash left him badly hurt. The wild part is that the footage made him a superstar; he became famous for the jump he didn't quite make.
Inside is the Forum Shops, a mall with a painted sky on the ceiling that slowly drifts from dawn to dusk and back, so you never quite know what time it is out in the real world. And yes — if you've seen The Hangover, this is where one bewildered character asks, “Did Caesar live here?” The answer, for the record, is no.
Keep heading north, and get ready to look sharp to your right, because the next one comes up almost immediately: a splash of hot pink neon, the oldest surviving resort on the whole Strip — the Flamingo.