Nike
...e Greek goddess of victory. The NIKE "Swoosh" logo was designed by a graduate student named Carolyn Davidson. The same year NIKE broke with Onitsuka in a dispute over distribution rights. At the 1972 Olympic Trials in Oregon, Knight and Bowerman persuaded some of the marathoners to wear NIKE shoes. When some of these runners placed, the two advertised that NIKEs were worn by "four of the top seven finishers." Bowerman tested a new sole in 1974 by stuffing a piece of rubber into a waffle iron. The result was the waffle sole, which NIKE added to its running shoes. NIKE grew as running's popularity surged in the 1970s. (NIKE even offered a red-and-silver shoe for disco dancing.) By 1979 it had 50% of the US running shoe market. NIKE went public the next year. NIKE expanded with shoes for other sports, introducing the Air Jordan basketball shoe in 1985 (named for basketball star Michael Jordan) and the Cross Tr...