Adolf (Adi) and his older brother Rudolph (Rudi) Dassler, born in Germany, established the world's first sports shoe company, Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik, achieving global fame when athletes clinched 17 medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics in their footwear, including four golds by American sprinter Jesse Owens. However, friction was constant between them. Adi, the reserved shoe designer, and Rudi, the outgoing salesman, clashed, particularly over Adi's wife Käthe, whom Rudi accused of meddling in the business despite her young age. World War II intensified their strife. Both brothers joined the Nazi party, as was common then. Adi was exempted from the draft to manage the factory, while Rudi served in the army, assigned to a Jewish ghetto in Poland. Their factory was repurposed to produce military rocket launchers, a move Rudi later inaccurately blamed on Adi. Adi countered by informing a U.S. denazification committee that Rudi had been a member of the SS, resulting in Rudi's imprisonment for a year. Adi gained control over the business, renaming it "Adidas," but this didn't stop Rudi from starting his own, initially "Ruda" and later renamed "Puma," situated across the river from Adidas. The rivalry split their town, with employment largely divided between the two companies and personal lives entwined with corporate loyalties—Adidas and Puma employees rarely intermarried, reflecting the deep-seated division between the brothers.
25 incredible photos with insane backstories historydefined.net/incredible-pho…
@fasc1nate Well this is all a bit disappointing. I used to love Adidas Samba sneakers and Puma soccer shoes. Now I'm bummed about both of them! Maybe I should Just Do It.
@fasc1nate Koko the gorilla met Robin Williams in 2001, and he made her smile for the first time in over 6 months. When Williams died in 2014, Koko overheard the news and signed the word "cry".
@fasc1nate The original 1881 "Pinocchio" was a dark story that included the puppet's execution by hanging for his bad behavior (which included murdering Jiminy Cricket).
@fasc1nate This is an incredible story, but makes sense given their similarities. They should do a movie on this
Jesse Owens of USA winning gold for the long jump in the summer Olympics in Germany, 1936. The man saluting behind Owens is Lutz Long, a German who shared training tips with Owens and was the first to openly congratulate him after his final jump in full view of Hitler. After the Olympics, the two kept in touch via mail. Below is Long's last letter to Owens while he was stationed with the German Army in North Africa during World War 2. Long was later killed in action during the allied invasion of Sicily in 1943. "I am here, Jesse, where it seems there is only the dry sand and the wet blood. I do not fear so much for myself, my friend Jesse, I fear for my woman who is home, and my young son Karl, who has never really known his father. My heart tells me, if I be honest with you, that this is the last letter I shall ever write. If it is so, I ask you something. It is a something so very important to me. It is you go to Germany when this war done, someday find my Karl, and tell him about his father. Tell him, Jesse, what times were like when we not separated by war. I am saying—tell him how things can be between men on this earth. If you do this something for me, this thing that I need the most to know will be done, I do something for you, now. I tell you something I know you want to hear. And it is true. That hour in Berlin when I first spoke to you, when you had your knee upon the ground, I knew that you were in prayer. Then I not know how I know. Now I do. I know it is never by chance that we come together. I come to you that hour in 1936 for purpose more than der Berliner Olympiade. And you, I believe, will read this letter, while it should not be possible to reach you ever, for purpose more even than our friendship. I believe this shall come about because I think now that God will make it come about. This is what I have to tell you, Jesse. I think I might believe in God. And I pray to him that, even while it should not be possible for this to reach you ever, these words I write will still be read by you. Your brother, Luz"
@fasc1nate Flying down the Burj Khalifa 🔥
@fasc1nate 1949: Adidas founded. The name comes from its founder, Adolf (“Adi”) Dassler (“das”).
@fasc1nate The creators of ADIDAS and PUMA were brothers. Rudolf "Rudi" Dassler was the founder of the Puma and the older brother of Adidas founder, Adolf "Adi" Dassler. The brothers were partners in a shoe company Adi.
@fasc1nate In 1924, German brothers Adolf and Rudolf Dassler started a shoe company from their laundry room, Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory. Adolf (“Adi”) Dassler was a quiet craftsman who designed the shoes, complemented by his older brother Rudolph (“Rudi”), an extroverted salesman.