On This Day: Tuesday July 5, 2005 This is the 186th day of the year, with 179 days remaining in 2005. Fact of the Day: bikini The bikini debuted at a Paris fashion show on July 5, 1946. The skimpy two-piece bathing suit was designed by Louis Reard. It was named after an atoll in the Pacific Ocean where the world's first peacetime atomic-weapons test was conducted at Bikini on July 1, 1946. Holidays Feast day of St Antony-Mary Zaccaria, and St Athanasius the Athonite. Cape Verde: Independence Day. Isle of Man: Tynwald Day. Slovakia: Day of the Slav Missionaries / Saint Cyril and Methodius Day. Venezuela: Independence Day. Algeria: Independence Day. Events 1791 - George Hammond was appointed the first British ambassador to the US. 1811 - Venezuela became the first South American country to declare independence from Spain. 1865 - William Booth founded the Salvation Army, in London. 1892 - Andrew Beard is issued a patent for the rotary engine. 1935 - The National Labor Relations Act was passed in the US. 1943 - The Battle of Kursk, the largest tank battle in history, began. 1946 - The bikini, designed by Louis Reard, made its debut during an outdoor fashion show in Paris. 1951 - Dr. William Shockley announced that he had invented the junction transistor. 1975 - Cape Verde Islands officially became independent after 500 years of Portuguese rule. 1975 - Arthur Ashe became the first black man to win a Wimbledon singles title. Births 1801 - David G. Farragut, US Civil War naval hero. 1810 - P.T. (Phineus Taylor) Barnum, circus showman. 1853 - Cecil Rhodes, South African statesman. 1867 - Andrew Ellicott Douglass, astronomer and archaeologist. 1879 - Dwight (Filley) Davis, tennis Hall-of-Famer, founder of Davis Cup. 1889 - Jean Cocteau, French poet, novelist, artist, and film director. 1902 - Henry Cabot Lodge, American diplomat. 1911 - Georges Pompidou, French premier (1962-8) and president (1969-74).