This is the first in a series of quizzes to test your knowledge of the Silver State’s first 100 years. Good luck!

1. Who was the explorer who first wrote about the Las Vegas Valley?

a. John C. Fremont

b. Meriwether Lewis

c. William Clark

d. Oscar Goodman

2. When did Nevada become a state?

a. 1855

b. 1864

c. 1885

d. 1900

3. When was Clark County created?

a. 1890

b. 1901

c. 1909

d. 1920

4. True or False: Gambling has always been legal in Nevada

5. When were the laws on divorce relaxed in Nevada?

a. They were never relaxed in Nevada.

b. 1911

c. 1931

d. Both b and c

6. What was the massive dam that straddles the border between Nevada and Arizona called in 1936?

a. Nevada/Arizona Dam

b. Boulder Dam

c. Hoover Dam

d. Colorado Dam

7. What is the name of the popular Old West festival that started in 1934 in Las Vegas?

a. Centennial Days

b. Cowboy Days

c. Helldorado Days

d. Desert Days

8. When did the Nevada Test Site set off its first atomic bomb?

a. 1949

b. 1951

c. 1955

d. 1960

9. What is the name of Las Vegas’ first prostitution area?

a. Block 16

b. Paradise

c. Area X

d. The Neon District

10. What famous band played in Las Vegas in 1964?

a. The Rolling Stones

b. The Beatles

c. The Who

d. The Dave Clark Five

ANSWERS:

1. A. John C. Fremont is the namesake of downtown’s Fremont Street.

2. B. In 1864, Nevada became the 36th state in the union.

3. C. Clark County was named after William Andrews Clark, a Montana businessman who sold the first plots of land in Las Vegas.

4. False. In 1909, it was banned, and was not re-introduced until 1931, the same year divorce laws were also relaxed in Nevada.

5. D. Trick question! The divorce laws were first relaxed in 1911, and again in 1931, making quickie divorces one of Las Vegas’ hallmarks.

6. B. Its name was changed in 1947 to Hoover Dam after President Herbert Hoover.

7. C. The festival and rodeo ran every year through 1998, and was resurrected in 2005 to help celebrate the Las Vegas’s centennial.

8. B. The atomic bomb testing became a huge tourist draw, where revelers would party through the night and watch the explosions afterward.

9. A. In the early part of the 1900s, downtown’s Block 16 and 17 were saloons, and in many of those on Block 16, courtesans could rent a room and entertain.

10. B. The Beatles performed two shows at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

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