Do You Know: Who invented the one-piece bathing suit? (colour litho)

Who invented the one-piece bathing suit? Annette Kellerman is credited with the invention of the one-piece bathing suit in 1909, after attempting to swim the English Channel. Sea bathing up to the middle of the 18th century was rare - actually, for pleasure, the seaside was neglected - but there are records of bathing, mostly indoors, throughout history. The Greeks bathed without covering, and in the Middle Ages bathing was frowned on by the Christian Church, mostly because men and women bathed together in large tubs: both sexes were quite naked. At the end of the 19th century corsets were worn by the fashionable lady underneath her costume. Illustration for one of a set of 50 "Do You Know?" cigarette cards issued by Carreras in 1939.