August 9, 1976: The body of Johnny Rosselli, once the most powerful mobster in Las Vegas, is found in a 55-gallon drum off the Florida coast. At his Vegas pinnacle in the ’60s, Rosselli controlled interests in several hotels, ran a talent booking agency and helped the CIA’s effort to kill Fidel Castro.

August 10, 1960: Ocean’s 11  premieres, with Frank Sinatra and his Rat Pack – Sammy Davis, Jr., Dean Martin, Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford – masterminding a simultaneous heist at five Las Vegas hotels. The Rat Pack had filmed all day and caroused all night, adding to the film’s iconic status.

August 11, 1986: Liberace performs his last Las Vegas show at Caesars Palace, 42 years after his Vegas debut. He dies six months later.

August 12, 2000: Boxer Evander Holyfield claims a version of the heavyweight championship for a record fourth time with a narrow decision over John Ruiz at the Paris Hotel. Many observers and Ruiz himself saw it differently, as the underdog called the verdict “a robbery without a gun.”

August 13, 2009: Vegas blackjack dealer Lisa Weiss and Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY) exchange their first steamy text messages. They never meet, but revelations that Weiner sent tawdry messages and sexy photos to her and other women force his resignation in June 2011.

August 14, 1992: Vegas megastar Wayne Newton files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as bad investments and high living overwhelm his huge income. He recovers financially, stays popular and continues to live lavishly, but tax problems and cranky creditors dog him for years to come.

 August 15, 1964: Dean Martin was nicknamed the “Beatle buster” after his hit “Everybody Loves Somebody” knocked the Fab Four out of No. 1 after “Hard Day’s Night” held the spot for two weeks. The Beatles had dominated the charts, holding the No. 1 spot from Feb. 1 to May 2 with “I Want to Hold You Hand,” “She Loves You” and “Can’t Buy Me Love.” They had two more No. 1’s that year in “Love Me Do” and “I Feel Fine.”

August 15, 2006: A federal judge voids a 2004 deal by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority that sold the popular slogan “What happens here, stays here” to an advertising agency for $1. The 13-member LVCVA board successfully argued it didn’t know about the deal.

August 16, 1951: Casino owners, angered by the opening of Binion’s Horseshoe the day before, start reassessing their betting limits. Owner Benny Binion sets the craps limit at $500 – 10 times the maximum anywhere else. Benny’s life is allegedly threatened, but the higher stakes prove successful everywhere.

August 17, 2002: Laila Ali, a boxer like her dad Muhammad, wins her first title, the IBF Super Middleweight championship, with a second-round TKO over Suzette Taylor at the Aladdin. She retires in 2007 with a 24-0 record, although some critics accused her over the years of dodging tough opponents.

August 18, 2002: At a post-Bruce Springsteen concert party at the Hard Rock Hotel, Leonardo DiCaprio asks to hear hip hop music and says he’ll leave unless he gets his way. He doesn’t, and stays anyway. “There's a reason it's called the Hard Rock Hotel, not the Hard Hip Hop Hotel,” Norm notes in his column. 

August 19, 1962: Squeaky-clean crooner Pat Boone, who had shunned Las Vegas because of its Sin City image, finishes his four-week debut engagement at the Flamingo, performing in a tuxedo and white bucks. He says he hadn’t realized that nice family folks come to Vegas, too, and returns often.

August 20, 1964: The Beatles make their only Las Vegas appearance, performing afternoon and evening concerts at the Convention Center before 11,000 screaming fans. Ticket prices range from $2.20 to $5.50.

August 21, 1957: A second day of rain brings the two-day total in Las Vegas to 2.59 inches, an all-time record.

August 22, 1968: Tiny Tim wraps up a week as a ukelele-playing, falsetto-trilling  headliner at Caesars Palace, for a reported $50,000. One night during the stint he inspects the hotel’s room service menu and orders one of everything. His wedding to Miss Vicki on theTonight Show is still a year away.

August 23, 2010: Ximena Navarrete of Mexico is crowned Miss Universe at the Mandalay Bay as the pageant returns to Las Vegas for the first time since 1996. She is the second Mexican to win the title, and both won their crowns in Las Vegas.

August 24, 2007: The city completes a $5.5 million renovation of the Fremont East District, a seedy three-block area of downtown aiming to lure nightlife and culture. The neon-laden district reminiscent of old Vegas glamour becomes popular among younger visitors.

2005: American Idol runner-up Bo Bice is released from Desert Springs Hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery to remove an intestinal blockage. He was rushed to the hospital after arriving in Las Vegas on tour with his fellow Idols.  He recovers and rejoins the tour the following month.