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Friday, July 6, 2012

Happy 66th Birthday, Bikini! » Gossip

Happy 66th Birthday, Bikini! » Gossip - While two-piece swimwear had been around since the early 20th Century, the bikini was officially introduced July 5, 1946. The world? Never the same after that.

We can all thank a Frenchman named Louis Reard, whose idea was to fashion a garment, using as little fabric as possible, that could still be legally worn in public.

As our gallery of celebrity bikini photos shows, his dream lives on to this day.

Happy 66th Birthday, Bikini! » Gossip/Bikini
Early Bikini

A French sunbather tries on the bikini in the mid-1940s.

The rest, as they say, is history. Today, 66 years later, his invention is so indoctrinated into the very fabric of our culture that we even have the bikini onesie.

Other July 5 birthdays: Megan Rapinoe (27), Eva Green (32), Huey Lewis (62) and Jersey Shore's Pauly D (32), who surely appreciates sharing his with the bikini.

Here are some classic bikinis through the years. Well, the last couple of years, because unlike the marvelous two-piece, THG is still in its relative infancy:

Happy 66th Birthday, Bikini! » Gossip/Kaley Cuoco Bikini
Kaley Cuoco Bikini

Happy 66th Birthday, Bikini! » Gossip/Kate Upton Bikini
Kate Upton Bikini

Happy 66th Birthday, Bikini! » Gossip/Kate Upton Bikini
Kate Upton in Bikini

Happy 66th Birthday, Bikini! » Gossip/Katharine McPhee Bikini
Katharine McPhee Bikini

Happy 66th Birthday, Bikini! » Gossip/Kendall Jenner
Kendall Jenner

Happy 66th Birthday, Bikini! » Gossip/Kris Jenner Bikini
Kris Jenner Bikini

Happy 66th Birthday, Bikini! » Gossip/Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan

Happy 66th Birthday, Bikini! » Gossip/Nadya Suleman Bikini
Nadya Suleman Bikini

Happy 66th Birthday, Bikini! » Gossip/Rachel Uchitel in a Bikini
Rachel Uchitel in a Bikini

Happy 66th Birthday, Bikini! » Gossip/Rihanna Bikini
Rihanna Bikini

Happy 66th Birthday, Bikini! » Gossip/Rocking a Bikini
Rocking a Bikini

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