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Bikinis are offered in virtually any size, design or color. If you want to purchase a red bikini, a blue bikini, or a yellow bikini, you can find the perfect one for you, although a yellow bikini on a properly tanned body seems to turn more heads than any other color. But do people ever wonder where the idea for the bikini came from.

Contrary to what one might assume, the term "bikini" did not originate in Paris, Milan, or New York City. In fact, bikinis, even yellow ones, were born in the Marshall Islands. In the summer of 1946, an atomic bomb was dropped on Bikini Atoll, in a test. Bikini Atoll is located in an isolated region of the Pacific Ocean.

The term "bikini" is the only word in Modern English, which originates from the language Marshallese. Soon after the nuclear test, the fashion term bikini had also been integrated into French, and subsequently into English.

Then on July 5, 1946, Louis Reard shocked Paris’s fashion world with his newest fashion design. It was a meagre swimsuit that only included four pieces of material, shaped like triangles. Narrow straps held these triangles in place, which had been carefully positioned on the female body.

One might assume that several flamboyant fashion models would be thrilled about unveiling the bikini to Paris’s fashion world. In fact, not one could be found. Instead, a nude dancer from the Casino de Paris posed in a yellow piece of the new attire. Like the atomic bomb that had been tested in the Marshall Islands, the industrialized world’s interest in bikinis, including the yellow bikini, exploded.

Bombs and Bikinis

The irony of the bikini’s name existed in its being a woman’s fashion item that commemorated the first detonation of a nuclear weapon, during peacetime. The United States conducted a total of twenty-three nuclear tests there, for over a decade afterwards.

The Bikini Boom

While the term bikini immediately became popular in English, it failed to become a common component of beachwear, until much later. The 1960 hit song "Itsy-Bitsy-Teenie-Weenie-Yellow-Polka-Dot Bikini" helped to promote not only the yellow bikini, but others as well. Also, the 1960s unconventional fashion styles and beach movies helped bikinis, such as the yellow bikini, to increase in popularity.

As you can see, there is more to the bikini than just a couple flimsy pieces of fabric. Next time you are at the beach think of bikini atoll and how the yellow bikini became popular.