October 14th, 1993:
The Egyptian-themed Las Vegas mega hotel and casino located on the south end of the famous Las Vegas strip switched on its massive light beams on October 14, 1993.
The tip of the pyramid is where the light beam originates and is claimed to be the most powerful man made light on earth.
The Luxor beam is comprised of 39 high-pressure xenon arc lamp fixtures with mirrored reflectors. The lamps produce over 42 billion candela when fully illuminated. However since 2008 only about half of the lamps are turned on as an energy saving measure.
It’s said that when all the lamps are illuminated the beam is so powerful that one could hypothetically read a newspaper from 10 miles away.
On clear nights the beam is visible from 275 miles away to aircraft flying at cruising altitudes.
Featured Image Courtesy of On The Beach.
