21/12/2023
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Bombs and the Bikini Atoll.
The haute beachwear known as the 'bikini' was named after the string of islands turned into a nuclear wasteland by atomic bomb testing.
On March 7, 1946, the 167 Bikinians living on the atoll placed flowers on their ancestors' graves, bade them farewell, and left their homeland for good. They were initially relocated to the Rongerik Atoll, which they believed to be inhabited by evil spirits; after much hardship, they were relocated once again to the Kwajalein Atoll and later to the Kili Island. On 1 July 1946, over 42,000 US military personnel and civilians on 242 naval ships, 156 planes, and with 25,000 radiation recording devices watched the first Bikini Atoll nuclear test.
Back then it was grandiosely described as a "terrifying pillar of water topped by an unfolding blossom of mist and radioactive debris." About 5,400 experimental tats, goats, and pigs were brought along to study as part of the test program.
Four days after the initial test, Micheline Bernardini, a dancer from the Casino de Paris sported 'le bikini' at the city's public pool – a G-string with newspaper print. The name quickly made it into the fashion lexicon, despite the damage done to its namesake island chain.
More explosions followed the first ones in 1946, and the 'bikinis' accordingly, got tinier...
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