Sally McCloskey, a ballerina and dancer from the Sands hotel, performed an interpretive dance on top of Mount Charleston called the 'Angel's Dance,' with an atomic mushroom cloud in the background on April 6, 1953. Las Vegas News Bureau photographer Don English thought up this publicity stunt, which proved to be a great success. In addition to the local 'Review-Journal', several other publications across the nation published this photo including 'Parade', a widely-circulated Sunday newspaper magazine. The 'Parade's' caption stated, 'Her task: to interpret the greatest drama of our time in dance rhythms. For high over her sinuous, leaping form rose a symbol no eye could miss: the pale, rising cloud of an atomic bomb just exploded 40 miles away.'

The atomic mushroom cloud from The Priscilla Test, part of Operation Plumbbob, raised over Fremont Street on June 24, 1957. Las Vegas News Bureau photographer Don English accidentally captured this iconic image when he slept in and had to rush downtown to capture the blast on top of the drugstore. English recalls that he looked up, 'and by gosh all of a sudden there was the mushroom cloud right between Vegas Vic and the Pioneer Club, absolute perfectly in the center.' This famous image was published around the world and won 'LIFE' magazine's 'picture of the week.'

Photographers captured an atomic blast at News Nob, the designated site for reporters to record images of the atmospheric tests, northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada, on June 24, 1957. In reaction to people’s interest, the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce promoted the dates and times for these tests. Calendars and community announcements would be published months in advance for tourists to plan and enjoy the spectacle of the mushroom cloud, and the Las Vegas News Bureau would capture the blasts from various perspectives and these images were published around the world.

On May 24th, 1957, the Las Vegas News Bureau captured the famous 'Miss Atomic Bomb' photo to coincide with Operation Plumbbob at the Nevada Test Site. News Bureau photographer, Don English, took the famous photo of the showgirl from the Sands’ Copa Room, thought to be Lee Merlin. The publicity photo is the most published photo in the Las Vegas News Bureau collection and has appeared and continues to appear in hundreds of publications worldwide.

Photographers gathered outside of the Nevada Test Site at News Nob (which was only ten miles from ground zero), to shoot the atomic blast from the ESS Test, part of Operation Teapot, which was sponsored by the Los Alamos National Laboratory on March 23, 1955.

Zsa Zsa Gabor and Spaulding Bisbee, The Civilian Defense Director of Maine, were at a meeting of the Ancient and Honorable Society of the Atom Bomb Watchers at the Flamingo, circa 1953.

Actress Marie Wilson posed poolside at the Flamingo with a Geiger counter to promote atomic tourism in Las Vegas on February 10, 1955. There were two atmospheric tests in February 1955, named Wasp and Moth, which were part of Operation Teapot.

Employees outside of the Civil Defense Administration in Las Vegas inspected mannequins from J.C. Penney which were sent to Yucca Flat on April 4, 1958. The mannequins were positioned around a million-dollar village, which was built to test the effects of an atomic blast on everything from food to clothing to homes made from different materials.

Actor and comedian Danny Thomas posed outside of the Nevada Test Site on May 20, 1957, for a staged photo that would be placed in the Sands casino's time capsule to preserve the memory of nuclear testing outside of Las Vegas.

NATO military observers watched Boltzmann, an above ground atomic test, which was part of Operation Plumbbob at the Nevada Test Site outside of Las Vegas on May 28, 1957.

Eugene Gaynes, an atomic radiation victim, was examined outside of the United States Atomic Energy Commission's office in Las Vegas, circa 1954.

Atomic soldiers arrived at the Royal Nevada on April 18, 1955. The soldiers were in Las Vegas for Operation Teapot, which was part of the atmospheric tests at the Nevada Test Site, northwest of Las Vegas.

A mushroom cloud from the Hood Test, which was part of Operation Plumbbob at the Nevada Test Site on July 5, 1957. The test, sponsored by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, was the largest test ever conducted at the site with a yield of 74 kilotons.

President John F. Kennedy toured the Nevada Test Site northwest of Las Vegas on December 8, 1962. While there, President Kennedy took an hour-long helicopter flight over the test site to see the damage an atomic blast could create. He also visited Area 25, which had been set aside for atomic research that did not involve weapons testing.

Guests at the Last Frontier pool watched as a mushroom cloud rose from the Simon Test, part of the Operation Upshot-Knothole, at the Nevada Test Site outside of Las Vegas on April 25, 1953. The Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce issued a calendar for tourists, listing the scheduled times of the bomb detonations and the best places to view them.

American opera singer Marquerite Piazza posed as 'Miss Radiation' with servicemen at the Sands' pool on March 29, 1955, to promote atomic tourism in Las Vegas.

An atomic blast over Fremont Street, circa 1955. Las Vegas utilized its close proximity to the atomic testing grounds to promote itself as, 'Atomic City' a place where people could go and view atomic blasts. According to PBS An American Experience, 'On the eve of detonations, many Las Vegas businesses held 'Dawn Bomb Parties.' Beginning at midnight, guests would drink and sing until the flash of the bomb lit up the night sky.'

An atomic mushroom cloud rose over the El Rancho Vegas on April 18, 1953. The blast, named Badger, was part of the Operation Upshot-Knothole, at the Nevada Test Site outside of Las Vegas. It was the sixth test in the series of atmospheric nuclear weapons testing.

Priscilla, an atomic blast that was part of Operation Plumbbob, rose above Fremont Street on June 24, 1957. The test was performed at the Nevada Test Site 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

According to the Smithsonian Channel, 'During the 1950s, the detonation of the Nevada Test Site gave Las Vegas a new way to make money, atomic tourism.' Proof of this mushrooming tourist industry can be seen here as tourists view an atomic blast from Fremont Street, circa 1955.