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In the late 18th century, people wore rubber soled shoes called plimsolls, but they were pretty crude—for one thing, there was no right foot or left foot.
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In 1892 Goodyear, begins to make rubber and canvas shoes. It produced them under different names, but in 1916 settled on Keds as the brand
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Marquis Converse produced the first shoe made just for basketball, called Converse All-Stars..Chuck Taylor endorsed the shoes, and they became known as Chuck Taylor All-Stars.
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A German man named Adi Dassler, starts to produce hand-made training shoes in his mother's washroom. 1931 Adidas makes its first tennis shoe that he named after himself
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Rudolf Dassler, Adi's brother, opens Puma and makes the Puma Atom. Puma's first football boots were worn by members of the West German football team.
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1962 Phil Knight, a business major at the University of Oregon, and his coach, Bill Bowerman, combine to provide a low-cost, high-tech athletic shoe under the name Blue Ribbon Sports. 1968 BRS begins marketing new designs and technology and changes its name to Nike
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Paul Van Doren partnered with his brother Jim and long-time business associate Serge D’Elia and on March 15, 1966 the Van Doren Rubber Company sneaker line began producing their unique shoes.
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1972 Bill Bowerman pours rubber into his wife's waffle iron, creating the basis for the popular Nike Waffle Racer.1974 Nike releases the Waffle Trainer, with Bill Bowerman's famous waffle sole.
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1979 Nike creates the first Nike Air sole units, resulting in the revolutionary Nike Air cushioning
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Michael Jordan signed a contract to wear a Nike shoe called Air Jordans—the most famous sneaker ever made. Even after Jordan retired from the NBA, his shoes continued to be best sellers.
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2006 Adidas completes the purchase of Reebok.
