clipped from www.ebrasetc.com

In 1863, Luman L Chapman patented a corset substitute with breast puffs and shoulder-brace straps that tied in back. The first bra was born. Then in 1893, Marie Tucek patented the "Breast Supporter" - the first garment similar to the modern-day bra that used shoulder straps with a hook-and-eye closure to support the breasts in pockets of fabric.

In 1904, the Charles R. DeBevoise Company first labeled a woman's bra-like garment a 'brassiere'. It was a actually a lightly boned camisole that helped stabilize the breasts

1863	1904 Brassiere

By 1907, the term "brassiere" began to show up in high profile women's magazines and eventually, around 1912, it appeared in the Oxford English Dictionary.