<P> During this period of time, American author and journalist Hunter S. Thompson wrote and published his seminal novel, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, detailing the experience of his 1971 trip to the city . </P> <P> On November 21, 1980 the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, suffered a devastating fire . A total of 85 people died and 785 were injured in what remains the worst disaster in Nevada history . The property was eventually sold and reopened as Bally's Las Vegas, while MGM moved south to Tropicana Avenue . </P> <P> The "Mafia / Rat Pack" Las Vegas of the mid-20th century came to a gradual end in the 1980s with the aging out of the World War II generation, the decline of organized crime elements, and the rise of baby boomer entrepreneurs who began a new chapter in the city's history, the so - called megaresort era . Las Vegas began to become a more commercialized, family - oriented place with large corporations coming to own the hotels, casinos, and nightclubs in place of Mafia bosses . The megaresort era kicked off in 1989 with the construction of The Mirage . Built by developer Steve Wynn, it was the first resort built with money from Wall Street, selling $630 million in junk bonds . Its 3,044 rooms, each with gold tinted windows, set a new standard for Vegas luxury and attracted tourists in droves, leading to additional financing and rapid growth on the Las Vegas Strip . Numerous landmark hotels and other structures were razed to make way for ever - larger and more opulent resorts including: </P> <Ul> <Li> 1990: Rio and Excalibur </Li> <Li> 1993: MGM Grand, Treasure Island, and Luxor, </Li> <Li> 1996: Stratosphere Tower and Monte Carlo </Li> <Li> 1997: New York - New York </Li> <Li> 1998: Bellagio </Li> <Li> 1999: Mandalay Bay, Venetian, and Paris </Li> <Li> 2000: Planet Hollywood (Formerly Aladdin) </Li> <Li> 2001: Palms </Li> <Li> 2005: Wynn (opened in April by Wynn Resorts Limited opened its new flagship, the constructed at a cost of US $2.7 billion .) </Li> <Li> 2007: Palazzo </Li> <Li> 2008: Encore </Li> <Li> 2009: CityCenter </Li> <Li> 2010: The Cosmopolitan </Li> </Ul>

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