( MentalFloss.com ) -- 1 . The oldest documented bikinis -- haute , bandeau-style little numbers -- show up in a 1,700 year old Roman mosaic entitled Chamber of the Ten Maidens . A bevy of ancient , bikini-clad babes are depicted playing sports . 2 . Earlier this year , Brooklyn-based designer Andrew Schneider invented the first solar powered bikini -- the `` iKini '' -- which produces enough electricity to power an iPod during a sunny day at the beach . Just remember to unplug it , the inventor says , before taking a dip . 3 . The famous white belted bikini worn by Ursula Andress in the 1962 James Bond hit `` Dr. No '' sold for $ 61,500 at Christie 's in London in 2001 . Halle Barry modeled a redux of a similar suit in the 2002 Bond flick , `` Die Another Day . '' 4 . French designer Jacques Heim 's first itsy-bitsy bathing suit hit the fashion scene in 1946 . Tapping into the worldwide obsession with nuclear physics , he named his tiny invention the `` atom . '' A few months later , another French designer , Louis Reard , one-upped Heim , revealing an even tinier suit , which he dubbed the `` bikini '' after Bikini Atoll , the island in the Pacific where the U.S. had tested the atom bomb . The new swimsuit , it was said , was as small as an atom and just as powerful . 5 . Reard said a two-piece bathing suit could n't be called a bikini `` unless it could be pulled through a wedding ring . '' Mental Floss : Waitresses , bridesmaids , compulsory plastic surgery . 6 . In 2009 , Americans spent $ 4.3 billion -- roughly $ 400 million more than the GDP of Barbados -- on swimwear alone . 7 . The 19th-century version of a bikini was made out of either heavy flannel or wool -- fabrics that would not be transparent when wet -- and covered the entire body from neck to toe . The suits were so heavy that women had to hold onto ropes strung from the beach to offshore buoys to keep from sinking . 8 . The bikini rocketed to fame in 1960 with Brian Hyland 's hit single , `` Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini . '' The famous 30 inches of fabric did n't debut on the cover of Sports Illustrated until 1964 . Mental Floss : 25 brand names mistakenly used as generic terms . 9 . At the 1964 International Beauty Pageant in Long Beach , California , Miss Austria stormed out of a photoshoot after being told she could not wear her homemade bikini . `` Americans are rude , '' she said . `` I 'm tanned all over , so I wanted the suntan to show . '' 10 . In 2009 , a group of vegetarian ladies campaigned in international cities wearing bikinis made only of lettuce leaves . The `` Lettuce Ladies '' as they were called , were sponsored by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals , and hoped to convince people to adopt a meatless diet . Mental Floss : When did women start shaving their armpits ? 11 . In 1993 , the Olympic Committee decreed the bikini the official uniform for women 's beach volleyball , partly because of the functionality of the suit . Athletes complain that when wearing more conventional uniform -- the one-piece , for instance -- `` sand goes down the top and collects in the bottom , '' Holly McPeak , a three-time Olympic vollyballer told ABC News . With the bikini 's built-in sand-release system , Reard , it seems , was ahead of his time . For more mental_floss articles , visit mentalfloss.com . Entire contents of this article copyright , Mental Floss LLC . All rights reserved .
Bikinis first appeared in Roman mosaics , depicted on women playing sports . The bikini was a bathing suit that covered the body and allowed for freedom of movement ( like swimming ) while still being modest enough to be worn by both men and women. Brian Hyland 's 1960 hit single was ode to `` Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini ''