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Corporate Timeline
November 3, 1900 - Adolph Dassler is born.
1920 - Adolph Dassler manufactures his first sports shoe, made for training, in Herzogenaurach, Germany.
July 1, 1924 - Adi Dassler and his brother Rudolph have their company registered as "Gebrüder Dassler OHG".
1934 - Kathe Martz and Adi Dassler marry. Kathe met Adi when she was only 15.
March 12, 1936 - Horst, the first of the Dasslers' five children, is born. Sigrid Dassler-Malms is one of Adi's daughters, born at a later date.
1948 - The Dassler brothers, Rudolph and Adolph, separate and form two companies. Adi Dassler forms adidas - a combination of his nickname, Adi, and the first three letters of his last name. A lowercase "a" is adopted to further distinguish adidas. He commences production with 47 employees. Rudolph forms Puma, with its headquarters located across town from adidas in Herzogenaurach.
August 18, 1948 - The name "adidas" is registered.
1949 - adidas adopts the trademark three-stripes.
1954 - Adi invents a revolutionary Screw-in Stud for sport shoes.
1955 - The first license is given to a factory in Norway to manufacture adidas shoes.
1966 - American sales representative H.B. "Doc" Hughes travels from Dallas to Germany to obtain the first distribution rights in the U.S.
1970 - Adi had registered 140 patents and over 300 trademarks and designs by this year. Today, adidas has over 700 patents.
1972 - adidas introduces the "Trefoil" logo. What does the "Trefoil" stand for? The leaves symbolize the world, the three stripes show adidas as a worldwide brand!
1978 - Adi Dassler dies at age 78. His wife Kathe continues operating adidas.
1978 - Dassler becomes the first non-American inducted into the American Sporting Goods Industry Hall of Fame.
1984 - Kathe Dassler dies, leaving the company to Horst, the Dasslers' first-born.
1987 - Horst dies at the age of 51.
1987 - Ron Moore is brought in from adidas Canada to run operations and a new facility is acquired in Warren, New Jersey.
1988 - adidas is incorporated.
1989 - Rob Strasser and Peter Moore of Sports Incorporated present adidas with the "Equipment" concept. The footwear and apparel line is introduced in 1991.
1990 - Bernard Taupie purchases 80% of adidas stock.
1993 - A group of investors led by Robert Louis-Dreyfus, former head of the British advertising group Saatchi & Saatchi P.L.C., acquires control of adidas. adidas America is formed in February; Rob Strasser is appointed CEO and Peter Moore becomes Worldwide Creative Director.
1993 - Rob Strasser dies on October 30. Peter Moore is named CEO of adidas America on November 9, while maintaining his role as Worldwide Creative Director.
1994 - adidas introduces the Predator soccer shoe.
1994 - adidas moves from eighth to third position in U.S. Footwear Industry Rankings. U.S. Footwear and apparel sales increase by an estimated 75%.
1995 - Steve Wynne is named President and CEO of adidas America.
1995 - adidas goes public on the stock exchange in Frankfurt-am-Main and in Paris.
1997 - The Three-Stripes Brandmark/Performance Logo becomes the worldwide adidas logo.
1997 - adidas acquires the French company Salomon - the world's leading manufacturer of winter sports products. After an extraordinary shareholders meeting, the company is renamed adidas-Salomon AG.
1997 - The acquisition of Salomon broadens the adidas product range to include Taylor Made for golf products and Mavic for cycle components.
1997 - adidas achieves record sales and passes the 1 billion dollar mark in gross sales in the United States.
2000 - adidas is named advertiser of the year, winning the "Clio Award".