The first implant operation was carried out on a woman named Timmie Jean Lindsey in March 1962 - just over 50 years ago. Mrs Lindsey was a 30 year old mother of 6 children from Austin, Texas, and in fact she only went into the surgery to have a tattoo taken off. However, the two surgeons, Frank Gerow and Thomas Cronin, had already developed a new technique for enhancing breast size with silicon, and they asked her if she would agree to be a guinea pig for the new treatment. She agreed, but also persuaded them to pin her ears back at the same time.

Lindsey, who is now 80, was very pleased with the results, which changed her from a B to a C cup.

Before Gerow and Cronin created their technique, women had often used padding etc to enhance their figures, but probably the closest thing to implants was the injections sometimes given to post-world war II Japanese prostitutes to give them a more 'western' figure and attract American servicemen.