Every week, Clay Today will test or enlighten your knowledge on a variety of topics. This week, the Rat Pack and ending segregation in Las Vegas.

While the Super Bowl and Las Vegas are fresh on everyone’s minds, few know the famed Rat Pack – Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop – played a significant role in ending racial segregation in Las Vegas. Sinatra once refused to play at the segregated Sands Hotel unless they gave Davis a room, and a year later, Davis performed with Sinatra at the Sands. No hotel wanted to be known for turning away members of the Rat Pack who refused to enter a property if they banned Davis. The legendary performer, affectionately known as Mr. Entertainment, became so revered in Las Vegas that casinos along Las Vegas Boulevard dimmed their lights for one minute when he died in 1990 of throat cancer.