43 Surprising Things You Probably Didn't Know About Barbie

Barbie was "born" the day Mattel president and Barbie inventor Ruth Handler debuted the doll at the American International Toy Fair in New York.

Ruth decided to create a three-dimensional doll when she saw her daughter playing with paper dolls, pretending they were students, cheerleaders and career women.

Barbie's physical appearance was inspired by Bild Lilli, a German doll created in 1952, which was based on a high-end call girl named Lilli who was featured in the comic-strip Bild-Zeitung. She was sold as an adult novelty in bars and tobacco shops — definitely not as a toy for children. Ruth saw the Bild Lilli doll while on vacation in Europe and brought it home.

Barbie was named after Ruth and Elliot Handler's daughter, Barbara. Barbara took part in the ceremony immortalizing Barbie's hand and footprints in cement on Hollywood Boulevard in 2002.

Ken was named for the Handlers' son Kenneth — meaning Barbie and Ken, one of the most famous fictional couples in the world, were actually inspired by a brother and sister.

Barbie and Ken severed ties in 2004, then got back together on Valentine's Day 2011. "Barbie" told her Facebook fans that her "heart only beats for Ken."

After her breakup with Ken, Barbie had a new male companion doll named Blaine Gordon, a boogie boarder from Australia. A new-and- improved Ken eventually came back into the picture.

Barbie's backstory was revealed in a Random House book series in the 1960s. The series included the names of her parents, George and Margaret, who have never been released as dolls.

No wonder she's got that Midwest charm! Barbie was "born" in the fictional town of Willows, Wisconsin.

Barbie has seven siblings. Skipper was introduced in 1964, twins Todd and Tutti were around from 1965 to 1971, Stacie hit shelves in 1990, Kelly was sold from 1994 to 2010 and Chelsea was introduced in 2011 as a replacement for Kelly. Barbie's youngest sister, Krissy, was sold as part of a set with Barbie and Ken from 1998 to 2001.

Barbie has an English cousin named Francie Fairchild, who was sold from 1966 to 1976. Francie hit shelves again in 2011.

Christie, one of the first Black dolls in Barbie world, made her debut in 1968 with "Talking Christie." She's been part of the Barbie squad ever since.

In 1967, supermodel Twiggy became the first celebrity to be immortalized as a Barbie doll. Other celebrity Barbies have included Cher (pictured here), Elizabeth Taylor, Elvis and Priscilla Presley, and Nicki Minaj.

In 1997, the company debuted "Share a Smile Becky," the first fashion doll to come with a wheelchair.

She was originally marketed as a "Teenage Fashion Model," and around 350,000 dolls were sold during the first year.

Since Mattel created her, generation after generation has enjoyed playing with Barbie. By Barbie's 50th birthday in 2009, over 1 billion models of her had been sold by Mattel. And every three seconds, a Barbie doll is sold somewhere in the world.

According to Mattel, the best-selling Barbie doll was the Totally Hair doll, which debuted in 1992 — just more proof that America has always been obsessed with hairstyling.

Barbie was available as a blonde or a brunette from the start, but the blonde dolls have always been more popular.

Barbie's figure has been criticized, but a voluptuous doll was in stark contrast to the baby and toddler dolls that were previously popular. Handler told the New York Times, "If [a young girl] was going to do role playing of what she would be like when she was 16 or 17, it was a little stupid to play with a doll that had a flat chest. So I gave it beautiful breasts."

In 1971, Barbie got a makeover when Mattel changed her eyes to look forward rather than giving a sideways glance and introduced a version of the doll with her teeth showing.