THIS DAY IN HISTORY

[IceWizard]

Bikini introduced





1946
July 05




On July 5, 1946, French designer Louis Réard unveils a daring two-piece swimsuit
at the Piscine Molitor, a popular swimming pool in Paris. Parisian showgirl Micheline Bernardini
modeled the new fashion, which Réard dubbed “bikini,” inspired by a news-making
U.S. atomic test that took place off the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean earlier that week.

European women first began wearing two-piece bathing suits that consisted of a
halter top and shorts in the 1930s, but only a sliver of the midriff was revealed
and the navel was vigilantly covered. In the United States, the modest two-piece
made its appearance during World War II, when wartime rationing of fabric saw
the removal of the skirt panel and other superfluous material. Meanwhile, in Europe,
fortified coastlines and Allied invasions curtailed beach life during the war, and
swimsuit development, like everything else non-military, came to a standstill.

In 1946, Western Europeans joyously greeted the first war-free summer in years, and
French designers came up with fashions to match the liberated mood of the people.
Two French designers, Jacques Heim and Louis Réard, developed competing prototypes
of the bikini. Heim called his the “atom” and advertised it as “the world’s smallest bathing
suit.” Réard's swimsuit, which was basically a bra top and two inverted triangles of cloth
connected by string, was in fact significantly smaller. Made out of a scant 30 inches of
fabric, Réard promoted his creation as “smaller than the world’s smallest bathing suit.”
Réard called his creation the bikini, named after the Bikini Atoll.


In planning the debut of his new swimsuit, Réard had trouble finding a professional model
who would deign to wear the scandalously skimpy two-piece. So he turned to
Micheline Bernardini, an exotic dancer at the Casino de Paris, who had no qualms about
appearing nearly nude in public. As an allusion to the headlines that he knew his swimsuit
would generate, he printed newspaper type across the suit that Bernardini modeled on
July 5 at the Piscine Molitor. The bikini was a hit, especially among men, and Bernardini
received some 50,000 fan letters.

Before long, bold young women in bikinis were causing a sensation along the
Mediterranean coast. Spain and Italy passed measures prohibiting bikinis on public
beaches but later capitulated to the changing times when the swimsuit grew into a
mainstay of European beaches in the 1950s. Réard's business soared, and in
advertisements he kept the bikini mystique alive by declaring that a two-piece suit
wasn’t a genuine bikini “unless it could be pulled through a wedding ring.”

In prudish America, the bikini was successfully resisted until the early 1960s, when a new
emphasis on youthful liberation brought the swimsuit en masse to U.S. beaches. It was
immortalized by the pop singer Brian Hyland, who sang
“Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini” in 1960, by the teenage “beach blanket”
movies of Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon, and by the California surfing culture
celebrated by rock groups like the Beach Boys. Since then, the popularity of the bikini
has only continued to grow.




ALSO ON THIS DAY


1970S
1978
"Gang of 19" activists occupy Denver intersection
to protest inaccessibility on the city’s bus system

On July 5, 1978, a Regional Transportation District (RTD)
bus stops at the intersection of Colfax Avenue and Broadway
in Denver, Colorado. As passengers board, a group of people
in wheelchairs position themselves in front of the bus,
preventing it from leaving the stop. When a ... read more





KOREA
1950
First U.S. fatality in the Korean War

Near Sojong, South Korea, Private Kenneth Shadrick, a 19-year-old
infantryman from Skin Fork, West Virginia, becomes the first
American reported killed in the Korean War. Shadrick, a member
of a bazooka squad, had just fired the weapon at a Soviet-made
tank when he looked up to ... read more





21ST CENTURY
2003
World Health Organization declares SARS contained worldwide

On July 5, 2003, the World Health Organization (WHO) announces that
all person-to-person transmission of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
(SARS) has ceased. In the previous eight months, the disease had killed
about 775 people in 29 countries and exposed the dangers of ... read more


ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
1954
Elvis Presley records “That’s All Right (Mama)”

History credits Sam Phillips, the owner and operator of Sun Records in
Memphis, Tennessee, with the discovery of Elvis Presley, which is perfectly
fair, though it fails to account for the roles of four others in making that
discovery possible: The business partner who first ... read more





19TH CENTURY
1865
Salvation Army founded

In the East End of London, revivalist preacher William Booth and his wife
Catherine establish the Christian Mission, later known as the Salvation Army.
Determined to wage war against the evils of poverty and religious indifference
with military efficiency, Booth modeled his ... read more


INVENTIONS & SCIENCE
1996
Dolly the sheep becomes first
successfully cloned mammal

On July 5, 1996, Dolly the sheep—the first mammal to have been successfully
cloned from an adult cell—is born at the Roslin Institute in Scotland.
Originally code-named “6LL3,” the cloned lamb was named after singer
and actress Dolly Parton. The name was reportedly suggested by ... read more





SPORTS
1975
Arthur Ashe becomes the first Black man
to win Wimbledon

On July 5, 1975, Arthur Ashe defeats the heavily favored Jimmy Connors to
become the first Black man ever to win Wimbledon, the most coveted
championship in tennis. Arthur Ashe began playing tennis as a boy in his
hometown of Richmond, Virginia. After winning a tennis scholarship ... read more





U.S. PRESIDENTS
1865
Conspirators court-martialed for plotting to kill
Lincoln, Grant and Andrew Johnson

On July 5, 1865, President Andrew Johnson signs an executive order that
confirms the military conviction of a group of people who had conspired to
kill the late President Abraham Lincoln, then commander in chief of the
U.S. Army. With his signature, Johnson ordered four of the ... read more


ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
1880
George Bernard Shaw quits his job

On July 5, 1880, George Bernard Shaw, 23, quits his job at the
Edison Telephone Company in order to write. Shaw was born in
Dublin, Ireland, and left school at the age of 14 to work in a
land agent’s office. In 1876, he quit and moved to London,
where his mother, a music teacher, ... read more


CRIME
1921
Chicago White Sox accused of throwing World Series

After Judge Hugo Friend denies a motion to quash the indictments
against the major league baseball players accused of throwing the
1919 World Series, a trial begins with jury selection.
The Chicago White Sox players, including stars Shoeless Joe Jackson,
Buck Weaver and Eddie ... read more





AMERICAN REVOLUTION
1775
Congress adopts Olive Branch Petition

On July 5, 1775, the Continental Congress adopts the Olive Branch Petition,
written by John Dickinson, which appeals directly to King George III and
expresses hope for reconciliation between the colonies and Great Britain.
Dickinson, who hoped desperately to avoid a final break ... read more


WORLD WAR I
1914
Germany gives Austria-Hungary “blank check” assurance

On July 5, 1914, in Berlin, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany pledges his
country’s unconditional support for whatever action Austria-Hungary
chooses to take in its conflict with Serbia, a long-running rivalry thrown
into crisis by the assassination, the previous June 28, of Archduke ... read more