It didn't happen in Pompano Beach, but the effects have been apparent on our beaches ever since:

On July 5, 1946, French designer Louis Reard unveils a daring two-piece swimsuit at the Piscine Molitor, a popular swimming pool in Paris. Parisian showgirl Micheline Bernardini modeled the new fashion, which Reard dubbed "bikini," inspired by a news-making U.S. atomic test that took place off the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean earlier that week.

Actually, the bikini swimming suit didn't become a common sight in America until the late 1950s. In 1960, Brian Hyland sang "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini" -- proof that the diminutive beach apparel was here to stay.