Nike is the world's top manufacturer of sneakers and sport clothes. The foundation to Nike's world domination was laid in 1964 when Bill Bowerman and Philip Knight founded a little shoe company of their own. The next step was taken in 1974 when Bowerman, in desperate search for a better gripping running shoe, poured urethane into his family's waffle iron and thus created the revolutionizing Waffle sole. The same year the Swoosh logo was registered, in 1978 Nike got its official name, borrowed from Greek goddess of victory and in 1988 Nike coined the classic slogan Just Do It. The rest is sneaker history. www.nike.com