| Winter is almost over. The warm weather is | | | | proclaiming the new Atome to be "the world's |
| here. The beaches are calling. And heeding | | | | smallest bathing suit." It soon got its |
| the call is that fabled teeny tiny piece of | | | | better name, which was the bikini. |
| female attire known as the bikini. From the | | | | |
| time of its inception in the 1950s to the | | | | Just three weeks after Heim began marketing |
| present day, the bikini is the most singular | | | | his swimsuit, Louis Reard, a mechanical |
| word spoken in every language on the globe. | | | | engineer who had decided to dabble in |
| | | | swimsuit design, He also sent out skywriters |
| The history of the bikini began long before | | | | over the French Riviera. The message these |
| the official introduction of the swimsuit in | | | | skywriters carried was simple but powerful |
| the summer of 1946. It would have to wait | | | | marketing: "Bikini-smaller than the smallest |
| until that momentous year of 1946 before it | | | | bathing suit in the world." |
| would bear the name "bikini". Some historians | | | | |
| believe that the two piece swimsuit may have | | | | Perhaps due to Reard's obvious marketing |
| been one of the first public swimming | | | | skills or a simple turn of fate, the name |
| costumes in existence. Drawing evidence from | | | | "bikini" became the official tag for the |
| 300 A.D. Roman mosaics, historians point to | | | | two-piece swimsuit. The thunderous impact of |
| this as the swimsuit of choice for ancient | | | | the two nuclear explosions certainly had more |
| Roman women. | | | | to say about the new bathing suit. Life on |
| | | | Bikini Atoll would never be the same again. |
| Where did the name "bikini" come from? It | | | | Life on every beach and resort around the |
| all started with (you guessed it) the | | | | world would never be the same, either. |
| aftermath of World War II. | | | | |
| | | | While sales of the bikini swim suit soared to |
| Bikini Atoll is located in the central | | | | astronomical heights around the world, the |
| Pacific. It is one of the 29 atolls and 5 | | | | native Bikinians were living a miserable |
| single islands that form the Republic of the | | | | existence. They were sickened by irradiation |
| Marshall Islands. Bikini is perhaps best | | | | from Operation Crossroads, no matter where |
| known for its role in a series of nuclear | | | | they were resettled in the Marshalls. It was |
| tests conducted by the United States in the | | | | now time for yet another chapter in the |
| 1940s and 1950s. | | | | Bikini Atoll tragedy. This was Operation |
| | | | Castle. |
| Just prior to World War II, Bikini suddenly | | | | |
| became strategic. The Bikini islanders' | | | | Operation Castle was a series of tests that |
| peaceful life of harmony drew to an abrupt | | | | would include the first air-deliverable, and |
| close when the Japanese decided to fortify | | | | the most powerful hydrogen bomb ever |
| Bikini Atoll to guard against an American | | | | detonated by the United States. |
| invasion of the Marshalls. Throughout the | | | | |
| conflict the Bikini station served as an | | | | Early in the morning on March 1, 1954, the |
| outpost for the Japanese military | | | | hydrogen bomb, code named Bravo, was |
| headquarters in the Marshall Islands, | | | | detonated on the surface of the reef in the |
| | | | northwestern corner of Bikini Atoll. The area |
| However, Bikini became a quiet Japanese | | | | was illuminated by a huge and expanding flash |
| stronghold whose garrison spent the war | | | | of blinding light. A raging fireball of |
| gathering flowers. American naval strategy | | | | intense heat that measured into the millions |
| used submarines and aircraft carriers to | | | | of degrees shot skyward at a rate of 300 |
| leapfrog over such islands and carry the war | | | | miles an hour. Within minutes the monstrous |
| to Japan. | | | | cloud, filled with nuclear debris, shot up |
| | | | more than 20 miles and generated winds |
| World War II came to a formal end in | | | | hundreds of miles per hour. These fiery gusts |
| September 1945 with the detonation of nuclear | | | | blasted the surrounding islands and stripped |
| weapons at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It would | | | | the branches and coconuts from the trees. |
| now be Bikini's turn to face the aftermath of | | | | |
| World War II. The developers of the two piece | | | | Millions of tons of sand, coral, plant and |
| bathing suit had still not given it a name. | | | | sea life from Bikini's reef, from three |
| Soon they would have an outstanding name for | | | | islands [Bokonijien, Aerokojlol, Nam] and the |
| their creation. | | | | surrounding lagoon waters were sent high into |
| | | | the air by the blast. Three to four hours |
| Because of its location away from regular air | | | | after the blast, white, snow-like ash began |
| and sea routes, Bikini Atoll was chosen to be | | | | to fall from the sky virtually everywhere. |
| the new nuclear proving ground for the United | | | | |
| States Government. | | | | Bravo was a thousand times more powerful than |
| | | | the Fat Man and Little Boy atomic bombs that |
| While the 167 Bikinians were getting ready | | | | were dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima during |
| for their exodus, preparations for the U.S. | | | | the end of World War II. Its "success" was |
| nuclear testing program advanced rapidly. Few | | | | beyond the wildest dreams of the American |
| people would think the Bikinians were | | | | scientists who were involved in the |
| terribly interested in the development of the | | | | detonation--they thought that the blast would |
| nuclear bomb or the two piece bathing suit in | | | | only carry a payload of approximately 3 |
| 1946. Their interests were simply that of | | | | megatons. |
| survival. They were faced with finding | | | | |
| food, raising families and maintaining their | | | | Not understanding what was happening, the |
| culture. They could barely understand the | | | | Rongelapese watched as two suns rose that |
| progression of events set in motion by the | | | | morning. They observed with amazement as the |
| Cold War. Events that happened in Washington | | | | radioactive dust soon formed a layer on their |
| and Moscow were for the most part out of | | | | island two inches deep. The fallout turned |
| their control. The residents of Bikini Atoll | | | | everything into a state of terrified panic. |
| were not about to model swimwear, either. | | | | |
| | | | The people had received no explanations or |
| The nuclear legacy of the Bikinians thus | | | | warnings whatsoever from the United States |
| began in March of 1946 when they were first | | | | Government. Two days after the test the |
| removed from their islands in preparation for | | | | people of Rongelap were finally taken to |
| Operation Crossroads. The history of the | | | | Kwajalein for medical treatment. |
| Bikinian people from that day forward has | | | | |
| been a story of their struggle to exist in | | | | On Bikini Atoll the radiation levels |
| the midst of Cold War issues. | | | | increased dramatically. In late March |
| | | | following the Bravo test, the off-limit zones |
| Operation Crossroads was an atmospheric | | | | were expanded to include the inhabited atolls |
| nuclear weapon test series conducted in July | | | | of Rongerik, Utirik, Ujelang and Likiep. It |
| 1946. The series consisted of two | | | | is startling to note that none of these |
| detonations, each with a yield of 23 | | | | islanders were evacuated prior to this blast |
| kilotons. The two atomic bomb blasts of | | | | or even before the subsequent nuclear weapons |
| Operation Crossroads were both about the size | | | | tests. In the spring of 1954, Bikar, |
| of the nuclear bomb dropped on Nagasaki, | | | | Ailinginae, Rongelap, Rongerik, were all |
| Japan. These were the first nuclear tests | | | | contaminated by the Yankee and Union weapons |
| held in the Marshall Islands. | | | | tests which were detonated on Bikini Atoll. |
| | | | |
| In preparation for Operation Crossroads, the | | | | Between 1957 and 2007, the problems subsided |
| Bikinians were sent 125 miles eastward to | | | | but the memories and the long range effects |
| Rongerik Atoll. Within two months after | | | | of radiation did not go away. There was no |
| their arrival on Rongerik, they began to beg | | | | further nuclear testing except for a test |
| U.S. officials to move them back to Bikini. | | | | conducted in New Caledonia by the French in |
| | | | the late 1980s. The Soviet Union faded into |
| Meanwhile, the official history of the bikini | | | | history and the Russian Federation did not |
| swimwear also began in the summer of 1946. | | | | resume nuclear testing of any type. With |
| Almost immediately after Operation | | | | countries such as India, Pakistan, and North |
| Crossroads, Jacques Heim, a fashion designer | | | | Korea still on the loose, nuclear weaponry |
| and beach shop owner in the French resort | | | | continues to be a threat. |
| town of Cannes, introduced his swimsuit | | | | |
| creation, the "Atome," The swimsuit was | | | | The name "bikini" will never pass from our |
| named after the two atomic bombs that were | | | | vocabulary. It is now 50 years since Bravo |
| set off in Bikini lagoon. | | | | was tested. It is very doubtful that those |
| | | | living today will remember the horrifying |
| Heim intended to sell his swimsuit in his | | | | message left in Bikini Lagoon with the Bravo |
| beach shop. To drum up business and increase | | | | test. It is well that only the name of the |
| awareness of the new swimsuit, Heim sent | | | | bathing suit "bikini" remains. |
| skywriters high above the Cannes sky, | | | | |