> Which of the following shoe companies is named after an African animal?Considering Nike, Reebok, Converse and Adidas, the answer is: Reebok. The grey rhebok is a type of antelope native to southern Africa. In 1958, theshoe company Reebok was founded in England by a pair of brothers. They named thecompany after the animal, due to a favorite childhood book from South Africa.A grey rhebok. Photo courtesy: Animalia.bio [https://animalia.bio/grey-rhebok].Before Nike reigned supreme, there was another sneaker forerunner: Reebok. Borninto a line of athletic footwear giants (grandsons to the inventor of theathletic track spike, J.W. Foster), Joe and Jeff were brothers with a point toprove. As such, they drew from their knowledge of athletic shoes (and love ofthe African animal) to create Reebok.Photo credit: Grailed.com [https://www.grailed.com/drycleanonly/reebok-history].At first, Reebok continued to produce primarily running spikes. Although theyenjoyed moderate success, something greater was yet to come: the fitness fad ofthe 1980s. In the decade of aerobics and tennis, the need for athletic footwearskyrocketed – and so, too, did sales for Reebok. Not only were the shoes sleekand reasonably priced, but they were fashionable off the playing field as well.By 1988, Reebok's sales topped $1.8 billion, and controlled a whopping 26.7percent of the athletic footwear market. The company even bested Nike’s $1.2billion in revenue.Throughout the rest of the 20th century, sales continued to dip in and out asthe brand competed with Nike and other rising athletic brands. Today it remainsa forerunner in athletic footwear, with a cultural footprint to match. Learn more about the history of Reebok here[https://www.grailed.com/drycleanonly/reebok-history].