Timeline Friday 5 July 1946

Events on Friday 5 July 1946 1

• 1946 Bikini Swimsuit Debuts in Paris Designer Louis Reard unveils a daringly small two-piece French designer Louis Reard introduced the bikini at a poolside fashion show in Paris, naming it after the Bikini Atoll nuclear test site to suggest its explosive effect. The garment was considered so scandalous that Reard had to hire a nude dancer to model it, and it took years to gain widespread acceptance.