You probably did not know it but sneakers are over 200 years old. The first sneakers, canvas shoes with rubber soles, where made in the late Georgian times, that is the late 18th century. These sneakers where very crude but when you would see one now you would definitely say that they where sneakers. Until 1917 nothing really happened with the sneakers. Then the US rubber company came up with a new type of sneaker more comfortable then before. The called those Keds. These where the first sneakers that went into mass production. The same year the Marquis converse company produced the first sneaker just for basketball, they called them Converse All-Stars.

At 1920 a German called Adi Dassler create the next innovation he created a sneaker called Adidas. This sneaker was mostly used for track and field. Track star Jessie Owens won four gold medals in the Olympics on adidas sneakers. A nice twist is that the brother of Adi Dassler (Rudi) started another famous sport shoe company called Puma.

Until the 1950 the sneaker was predominantly a shoe that was used in sports, like track and field, tennis, basketball, etc but in the 1950's the younger generation started wearing the sneaker as a fashion statement. The trend setter for that generation was James Dean who wore sneakers in the movie Rebel without a Cause. This is also the time where you get the more outrageous designs printed on the canvas.

In the 1980's the company Nike came with a sneaker called Air Jordans. These sneakers where named after Micheal Jordan a famous Basketball player that had signed a contract with nike to only where there sneakers when he was playing. This sneaker is still the best selling sneaker ever. The companies making sneakers started to compete for the best athletes to endorse there sneakers. The athletes where paid so much that it had a impact on the price of the sneaker themselves. The company that weren't able to pay the high prices for these athletes started looking for different arena's to sell the sneakers. They found the new up and coming sports like, skateboarding, cross training, fitness, etc.

In the last 10 years some of the sneaker makers have embraced new technologies. These new technologies consist of more spring in the heel trough air or real springs. But they also created sneakers that fit better and support your foot better. This all came about because of the input of those highly paid athletes. If they had to wear these sneakers they wanted also to get good performance out of them. The draw back of all these new technologies is the price a good sport's sneaker now can cost over 150 dollars.

Luckily for the people who like the old styles they are still there, even the starter of the modern sneaker Keds still makes sneakers. They have the old style but with modern designs and materials. People just enjoy wearing them new or old style.