wulf:sport

Adidas

Adidas owes its name to the nickname and the first three letters of the last name of its founder Adolf Adi Dassler who, after returning from World War I, started making athletic shoes in Herzogenaurach, in his native Bavaria. In 1924, his brother Rudolf Dassler joined him in the production of athletic shoes and together they founded the Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik (Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory) that same year. During the 1928 Olympic Games, their company supplied several athletes with sports equipment and, after Jesse Owens wore the athletic shoes made in the Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, the company started to expand. During World War II, the Dassler brothers were producing equipment for the German Army. Soon after the war however, in 1948, the brothers parted their ways as far as business was concerned, i.e. Rudolf went on to found Puma, whereas Adolf continued to run the old company whose name he changed to Adidas on August 18th, 1949.