The most provocative statistic about modeling these days is actually the absence of a number – as in zero, the typical dress size of those waifs trotting down the runways.

But that isn’t the only relevant tidbit – as a quick look at the facts behind these idealized figures demonstrates.

1852: Year Maria Vernet Worth, a Parisian shopgirl, became the first fashion model by acting like a mannequin to help out her dress-salesman husband.

17: Waist measurement of the first famous model, Lisa Fonssagrives, who appeared on the cover of Vogue more than 200 times from the 1930s to the 1950s.

1943: Year fashion publicist Eleanor Lambert organized New York City’s first Fashion Week (then called Press Week), when the Nazi occupation of France made it impossible for buyers and editors to travel to Paris.

1943: Year small-time agent Clyde Matthew Dessner coined the term “supermodel” in his book So You Want to Be a Model!

1974: Year Beverly Johnson became the first African-American model to appear on the cover of Vogue.

4: Number of modeling agencies that turned down Tyra Banks before she was signed by Elite.

2003: Year in which America’s Next Top Model, hosted by Tyra Banks, debuted on television.

14: Dress size of the average American woman.

12: Dress size at which a model qualifies as being plus-size.

$27,570: Average model’s annual income in 2005.

$20,000: Amount a top model such as Gemma Ward or Daria Werbowy can command for a single fashion show.

$70 million: Gisele’s net worth, as reported by Forbes magazine.

1988: Year 14-year-old Kate Moss was discovered by a modeling agent at Kennedy Airport after a family trip.

14: Number of advertising campaigns Moss signed after being caught on video snorting what appeared to be cocaine, in 2006, and then going through rehab.

$200,000: Amount Lauren Hutton was paid in 1973 for signing the first exclusive modeling contract with a cosmetics company, for Revlon’s Ultima II line.

1990: Year Linda Evangelista said of herself and her fellow supermodels, “We don’t wake up for less than $10,000 a day.”

2001: Year in which Evangelista told Vogue, “I feel like those words are going to be engraved on my tombstone.”

21: Percentage of Americans who can identify U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.

77: Percentage who can identify Cindy Crawford. [via]