April 18, 2012: The new Hangover Heaven bus rolling through Las Vegas garners international publicity for its medically supervised intravenous treatment to make last night go away. But Scientific American has a different take: the bus “is a moving binge drinking ad,” grouses the magazine’s blog.

April 19, 1939: Fred Martens, also known as “Fritz the Rooster,” passes into poker legend when he collapses and dies during a game in Las Vegas. The players at the table play a few more hands with Fred in his seat. When a doctor arrives, the players pick up the table and carry on elsewhere.

April 20, 1955: The Riviera, the first high-rise hotel and casino on The Strip, opens with Liberace as the headliner. The flamboyant pianist becomes a regular there, with a $50,000 per week salary.

April 21,1988: “Entertainment Tonight" host Mary Hart, a former Miss South Dakota, makes her Vegas debut, singing and dancing at the opening act for comedian David Brenner at the Golden Nugget. Audiences are friendly, but reviews are mixed, and she doesn’t become a regular headliner.

April 22, 2000: Poker dealer Dave Alizadeh wins a special tournament for dealers only at the World Series of Poker, taking home $21,800. It evolves into the Casino Employee Championship and becomes the regular opening event at the annual WSOP.

April 23, 1956: Just as Heartbreak Hotel becomes his first No. 1 hit, Elvis Presley makes his Las Vegas debut at the New Frontier. Newsweek reports that the stodgy middle-aged crowd welcomes the 21-year-old sensation “like a jug of corn liquor at a champagne party.”

April 24, 1974: The Jackson 5, joined by Janet and Latoya, wrap up a two-week gig at the MGM Grand. The shows mark their Las Vegas debut, five years after they became an international sensation, but they spend plenty of time in the city in the years to come. 

April 25, 1978: "Vega$," the first TV show filmed entirely in Las Vegas, premieres on ABC. Robert Urich is a detective tooling around in a 1957 red Thunderbird foiling bad guys. Tony Curtis is one of his co-stars, and frequent cameos feature everyone from Muhammad Ali to Dean Martin. It lasts three seasons