The name always brings a smile to my face. Was the swimsuit named after the atoll or the atoll after the suit?
Evidently, the place in the Pacific Ocean is safe to dive as it is a very popular site, but back in 2008, it was closed because of mechanical problems and rising fuel prices. For thirteen years divers had been coming for the fish viewing and especially the sunken warships in the lagoon.
The Bikini Atoll is a Micronesian Island and part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands which consists of 23 islands.
The name Bikini comes from natives from the words "Pik" which means surface and "Ni" which means coconut. The name became famous after 23 nuclear devices were exploded there between 1946 and 1958 in testing, and, then the new swimsuit was named after it. (So, that answers my question.) In March 1, 1854, the first hydrogen bomb was exploded at Bikini.
Prior to the testing, the lagoon of the island was designated a ship graveyard as many surplus warships were sunk there including large ones like the USS Saratoga aircraft carrier, USS Arkansas battleship and submarine USS Apogon. Captured Japanese World War II ships were sunk as well.
I'd Sure Like to See Some of Those World War II Warships. --Cooter
No comments:
Post a Comment