Key dates in the history of Brassieres

1863 -- Jersey boy Luman L. Chapman patents a corset substitute called "the breast supporter."

1893 -- Marie Tucek patents a more modern bra with pouches for each breast, shoulder straps, and hook and eye fasteners.

1907 -- The term "brassiere" appears for the first time in an American copy of Vogue.

1914 -- New York socialite Mary Phelps Jacob patents a backless bra for evening gowns. She sells her patent to Warner Brothers Corset Co for $1,500.

1920s -- A Russian immigrant and seamstress named Ida Rosenthal, working for dressmaker Enid Bissett, alters a popular bandeau style bra and founds Maidenform. Rosenthal and her husband, William, create cup size categories. The Rosenthals open a Maidenform plant in New Jersey in 1925 and sell 500,000 bras in 1928.

1930s -- Warner Brothers Corset Co. creates the alphabet cup sizing method used today (A-D), as well as the all-elastic bra.

1943 -- Howard Hughes designs a aeronautically inspired steel underwire bra and turns Jane Russell into a huge star in "The Outlaw".

1946 -- Frederick Moliger invents the first push-up bra, called the Rising Sun. In 1947, Moliger opens a lingerie shop on Hollywood Boulevard -- Frederick's of Hollywood.

1968 -- This moment in bra history is significant for what did NOT happen. The fact that feminists burned their bras at a demonstration against the Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City is strictly urban legend.

1978 -- Playtex launches an ads for its "Support Can Be Beautiful" underwire bras.

1990 -- Madonna wears the pointy Jean Paul Gaultier cone bra in her Blonde Ambition Tour and creates one of the more lasting images in bra history.

1995 -- On "Seinfeld," Kramer and Frank Costanza, George's dad, invent the "bro" or "manssiere" -- a support undergarment for men.

1999 -- At the Women's World Cup in Pasadena, Calif., after scoring the fifth penalty kick to give the U.S. team the win over China in the finals, Brandi Chastain celebrates by peeling off her jersey and falling to her knees in a sports bra. The image makes the covers of Time, Newsweek and Sports Illustrated.

2004 -- Janet Jackson suffers a "wardrobe malfunction" during a Super Bowl halftime performance, and accidentally reveals a nipple shield under her bustier instead of a lacy red bra. The world almost comes to an end.

2005 -- With 85 percent of American women wearing the wrong bra size, Oprah Winfrey begins a "Bra Revolution" to get women in the right undergarments. Nordstrom reports that bra sales at its stores increased 189 percent.

All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be published, broadcast or redistributed in any manner.
Compiled by Brooke Cain

Refernce: http://www.newsobserver.com/105/story/745000.html