Henderson was born out of the American war effort in the 1940s. America needed magnesium to match Germany’s fighter planes and more powerful bombs, and the Basic Magnesium Plant (BMI) in Henderson supplied much of the “miracle metal” that helped the Allies win World War II.

Forget Rosie the Riveter. Henderson had its own blue-collar, wartime bombshell. Known in the 1940s as Magnesium Maggie (aka Irene Rostine), she worked at BMI.

Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid played high school football at Basic High.

The first city council meeting was held at the home of Lou LaPorta, who has lived in Henderson since leaving the Air Force in 1945. LaPorta is now the president and CEO of the Henderson Historical Society.

For years, Henderson optometrist Dr. M.J. Bagley collected eyeglasses from celebrities and international dignitaries for The Famous People’s Eye Glasses Museum. Anwar Sadat, Walter Cronkite, Peggy Lee, Leni Reifenstahl, and Benny Goodman were among those who mailed their glasses to the Henderson office on East Lake Mead Drive with letters of authentication. The glasses were displayed in a case in the waiting room.

The Green Valley High girls golf team won 144 straight matches from 1992 to 2004, a national record for consecutive victories.

Henderson also includes Greyhound Lane, named for the “short-lived Las Vegas Downs racetrack.”

Country music superstar Tanya Tucker first heard her hit song “Delta Dawn” on the radio when she was living in Henderson. She was only 13 at the time.