The bikini swimsuit was named after Bikini Atoll, site of 1946 nuclear tests, because its designer believed it would be equally explosive.
A two-piece swimsuit for women.
Named after Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands, where the United States conducted nuclear weapons tests in July 1946. French designer Louis Réard introduced the swimsuit four days after the first test, calling it the bikini because he believed its effect on observers would be as explosive as the bomb. Key roots: Pikinni (Marshallese: "surface of coconuts