The
Bikini Atoll in the
Marshall Islands was the site of the first
thermonuclear weapon test.
The
bikini swimming suit was officially invented by engineer [Louis Reard]
? in
Paris in
1946, and named after the [Pacific atolls]
? where the first H-Bomb
? was tested. Reard's suit was a refinement of the work of [Jacques Heim]
? who, 2 months earlier, had introduced the "Atome" (named for its size) and advertised it as the world's "smallest bathing suit." Reard, however, split the "atome" even smaller.
It took 15 years for the bikini to be accepted in America.
In 1951 bikinis were banned from the Miss World Contest. In 1957, however, Brigitte Bardot's bikini in "[And God Created Woman]?" created a market for the swimwear in the US, and in 1960, [Brian Hyland]?'s pop song "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" inspired a bikini-buying spree. Finally, the bikini caught on, and by 1963, the movie "Beach Party," starring [Annette Funicello]? and [Frankie Avalon]?, led a wave of films that made the bikini a pop-culture symbol.
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