Before Chuck Taylor was making Converse, he was a WWII military basketball coach

Chuck Taylor is a name associated with basketball sneakers that are still a pop culture and fashion icon. The shoe brand is now owned by Nike, which is not a surprise; however, the shoe was conceived in 1917, over 107 years ago, and the exact Chuck Taylor All-Stars debuted in 1922. That is a pretty good lifespan for shoes made before computer engineering and synthetic fabrics.

The shoes are as nostalgic as nostalgic can get as they were worn by Olympic athletes in the 1930s through the late 1960s. The shoe was the official athletic trainer for the U.S. in World War II, was extremely popular in the 1950s with all types of basketball players and by the 1960s had around 75% of the basketball shoe market. The company had some struggles in the 1970s but rebounded in the 1980s and 1990s. Converse sold over 600 million pairs of All Stars by the year 2000. Nike bought Converse in 2003 for $305M. The shoe was promoted and sold by its namesake, Chuck Taylor.