50 Things You Didn't Know About Nike

Although Nike was first founded in 1971, the brand operated from eight years as BRS.

As a young Chicago Bull, Jordan first broke out the Nike Air Ship.

Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman founded the brand, but the first person they hired was Johnson. He also came up with the name "Nike."

Luckily, the name got nixed, and Nike was chosen.

He went to reach for a handkerchief, but pulled out an athletic sock. Embarrassing himself and not securing the job, this put him onto the path to found what would become Nike.

The goods are produced by contractors in factories they own.

Nike's first ACG sneaker, the Air Magma, took its roots in providing a lighterweight option to the heavy hiking boots on the market, which these hikers were trying to get away from.

His reasoning was, they shoes were "Devil's colors," referring to his in-state collegiate rival, N.C. State, which wore black and red.

Shaq is back with Reebok, but he already knew he wanted to sign with the brand before he met with Nike. Phil Knight didn't take it kindly that he showed up to the meeting head-to-toe in Reebok, either. Allegedly, Knight still holds a beef with Diesel.

This was Nike's attempt to break back into the skate industry after it had failed in 1996. The result was Nike developing its SB line.

The Romanian tennis player, although a lesser-known Nike athlete, won two Grand Slam singles titles, and, supposedly, slept with around 2500 women. 

The campaign consisted of three ads, and would become Nike's best-known slogan.

Running legend Pre tragically died in a 1975 car accident at the age of 24, but his running spirit and Oregon roots continue to inspire the brand.

Marty McFly, Fox's character in the film, may be best remembered for lacing, er, securing, his Air Mags, but he also skated around in white and red Bruins.

Before he was executed in 1977, Gilmore said, "Let's do it."

Eric Avar is the designer of the Air Foamposite One, but Daewoo was the manufacturer who made his concept a realistic option.

The most recognizable branding of Nike was designed a graphic design student. Even though she was paid lightly, Phil Knight, who had met Davidson while teaching, gave her a Swoosh ring with a diamond in it and an unknown amount of stock in 1983.

Foot Locker wasn't happy with Nike's high prices, and cut back on the signature and cop-worthy sneakers from Nike. This caused the brand to rely heavily on other brands such as Reebok, Puma, and adidas.

The name for the new cushioning was "Tensile Air."

This is where the innovation goes down and is now located in Beaverton, Ore. But Nike's East Coast roots are still strong. There's also an Employee Store in Greenland, N.H.

At a quick glance, the Corsair and the Cortez seem like different sneakers. But the Cortez has an EVA wedge and a slightly more runner-appropriate silhouette.

Knight believe that sneakers made in Japan could compete with German-made sneakers, adidas and Puma, and hence him linking up with Onitsuka Tiger.

It was a soccer cleat. This was the first piece of footwear to have "Nike" attached to it.

Oregon might be known as Nike University, but the brand's donations to the school come in the form of exclusive gear and an on-par budget for athletic funding.

Nike's old Air Max units were huge, and enthusiasts have seen a decrease in the bag size. That's because the molecules they were filled up with, SF6, were large molecules. The brand now uses nitrogen, which has smaller molecules.

The brand, these days, is connected with China, Indonesia, and Vietnam, but early sneakers were made Stateside.

Geoff Petrie was one of the first NBA players to wear Nike, and the first Nike Basketball sneakers, the Blazer, was named for his team.

The brand was going through its IPO, and things were changing at Nike. Some of the original players chose to leave. Knight still stayed on as chairman of the board and CEO of Nike.

Woods signed to Nike in 1996 and launched the now-known "Hello World" commercial. But the initial foundation for Nike Golf was laid in 1984 when Bob Wood wrote the business plan

Despite Nike's longstanding relationship and mining of the talents of Oregon, Parker never went to school there. In fact, he never went to school on the West Coast. He received his degree from Penn State.

The Ivy League has a long tradition of basketball, but, still, people don't associate the Columbia men's team as a basketball powerhouse. They've made the NCAA Tournament three times, the last time in 1968 when they finished third overall.

The tees were for Nike 6.0 and had slogans such as "Get High" and "Ride Pipe." In a letter to Nike, Menino wrote, "Your window display of T-shirts with drug and profanity wordplay are out of keeping with the character of Boston’s Back Bay."

It's strange to not think of the Air Force 1 as a continuous thing, but it wasn't re-released until 1986.

Bias, a standout at the University of Maryland who some deemed more talented than Jordan, was being courted for a Nike deal. He was a design major, with a keen interest in fashion, and Nike was considering letting Bias design for the brand before his tragic death.

Denim and golf don't really match, but Nike is a rogue brand. Can't blame them for trying.

As quick as these sneakers hit the shelves, they were gone just as fast. Not because they sold out, no. Nike shipped them all to the outlets.

Soundalike records from The Beatles had been used in advertising but the use of their song, "Revolution No. 9," in the Nike commercial was the first use of their actual recording being used to sell products.

The Nike/Livestrong collection started in 2008, but Knight's disbelief in the brand (and the band), at least jokingly, was admitted during an Oprah interview.

Jeff Johnson opened the first store for Blue Ribbon Sports in 1967, and it was located in Santa Monica.

This is because he was a traveling salesman for the brand.

In the early-'80s, Nike became the leader of the footwear industry, but it soon relinquished that title. Thanks to Michael Jordan, the birth of crosstraining, and clever marketing it regained the top spot. And has never let go since.

Unfortunately, the Panthers play in North Carolina.

It's no secret that Nike sneakers are made overseas and need to be shipped to the U.S. A cargo ship full of Nike sneakers got lost en route from South Korea to the U.S., and Air Solo Flights, Strike Forces, and Pegasuses have been found floating in the ocean.

He said, he wasn't going to sign with the brand because he didn't like its products. His parents forced him to get on the plane to meet, even if it was decline in person. Luckily, he didn't.

The era was all about grunge and East Coast hip-hop. Teenage consumers weren't as interested, surprisingly, in ads filled with athletes.

Nike and hip-hop culture go hand-in-hand, even though the brand is firmly rooted in athletics. In a 2013 interview he said, "Dance music I can understand a little bit more – it's about movement – but for it to jump the fence and go into modern hip hop culture – I was surprised, happily surprised."

The Huarache gets its roots from the Mexican footwear of the same name, but the idea original hit Tinker as he was on the wake and loved having neoprene footwear on.

They thought that guys would just throw on old sweats and an unmatched T-shirt that they could work out in until they fell apart.

The line completely surpassed that amount. It booked $130M in the first year alone.

Needless to say, people who won silver or bronze medals weren't happy.