Converse

Converse was founded by Massachusetts businessman Marquis Mills Converse. He created the Converse Rubber Shoe Company in February 1908, and on April 30, 1909, debuted the company’s first pair of rubber galoshes. It wasn’t until the mid-1910s that Converse entered the athletic market. To cater to the new but growing sport of basketball, it created the Non-Skid shoe, which in 1919 would be renamed the All-Star and eventually evolve into the Chuck Taylor All-Star (named after one of its most devoted salesmen and ambassadors).

The history of Converse is deeply intertwined with the sport of basketball. By 1955, Chucks were the No. 1 basketball shoe in America and the brand owned 80 percent of the entire sneaker industry. Throughout the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, its sneakers were worn by the majority of pro and college teams, including legendary players like Dr. J, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan (before signing his deal with Nike). Speaking of the Swoosh, Converse was acquired by Nike on Sept. 4, 2003, for $305 million. Though Converse shoes are no longer a staple of basketball courts, they’ve become synonymous with youth culture — and counterculture — worn by artists and musicians across the globe.