The Areni-1 shoe is a 5,500-year-old leather shoe that was found in 2008 in excellent condition in the Areni-1 cave located in the Vayots Dzor province of Armenia.
However, the earliest examples of actual footwear, a pair of sandals found in California (U.S.), date to only about 9,000 years ago. During the Kassite period (c. 1600–1200 bce) in Mesopotamia, soft shoes were introduced by mountain people on the border of Iran who ruled Babylonia during that time.
Stuffed with grass, perhaps as an insulator or an early shoe tree, the 5,500-year-old moccasin-like shoe was found exceptionally well preserved—thanks to a surfeit of sheep dung—during a recent dig in an Armenian cave.
World's oldest leather shoe found in Armenia
The 5,500- year-old shoe, the oldest leather shoe in the world, was discovered by a team of international archaeologists. The cow-hide shoe dates back to 3,500 BC (the Chalcolithic period) and is in perfect condition.
The oldest example of a leather shoe has been discovered by archaeologists in a cave in Armenia. At 5,500 years old, the well preserved cow-hide shoe pre-dates Stonehenge by 400 years and the Pyramids of Giza by 1,000 years.
The Frye Company is an American manufacturer of shoes, boots and leather accessories. Founded in 1863, it claims to be the oldest continuously operated American shoe company.
In the late 18th century, people wore rubber soled shoes called plimsolls, but they were pretty crude—for one thing, there was no right foot or left foot. Around 1892, the U.S. Rubber Company came up with more comfortable rubber sneakers with canvas tops, called Keds. By 1917, these sneakers began to be mass produced.
Fort Rock sandals are a distinctive type of ancient fiber footwear found in southeast Oregon and northern Nevada. Named by archaeologist Luther Cressman, who first found examples in Oregon's Fort Rock Cave, Fort Rock sandals are the oldest directly dated footwear in the world.
No one is credited with the invention of shoes because they date back thousands and thousands of years. The earliest known pair of shoes is believed to date back to 7000-8000 BCE and was made from bark - a natural material. The earliest known shoes made from leather are believed to date back to 3500 BCE.
While evidence for hideworking and tanning exists from 400,000 years ago, the earliest confirmed leatherworking tools date back to the Stone Age in 5,000 BC. During this time, leather was used for shelters, clothing, and shoes. In Armenia, the oldest known pair of leather shoes were discovered, dating back to 3,500 BC.
Origins and etymology. The earliest "sneakers" debuted in 1876, made by the England-based New Liverpool Rubber Company, and were immediately notable as the world's first rubber-soled shoes.
1888 marks the year that the very first boot ever was made by The Frye Company. With its precision stitching and quality leather, this boot is testimony to Frye's unparalleled craftsmanship.
However, fossil evidence indicates that our species probably began wearing sandals or moccasins over 40,000 years ago. Cushioned shoes, however, only came on the scene about 300 years ago. Some studies show that these padded soles have shifted the foot's form and function.
For most of human evolutionary history, runners were either barefoot or wore minimal footwear such as sandals or moccasins with smaller heels and little cushioning." For modern humans who have grown up wearing shoes, barefoot or minimal shoe running is something to be eased into, warns Lieberman.
The earliest direct evidence for shoes is 9000 year-old Native American sandals but, until the time of European contact, the Native Americans are thought to have preferred bare feet. The Inuits, on the other hand, wore heavy boots made of stiff sealskin soles and soft, fur uppers.
Etymology. From Middle English scho, sho, from Old English sċōh (“shoe”), from Proto-West Germanic *skōh, from Proto-Germanic *skōhaz (“shoe”), of unclear etymology; possibly a derivation from *skehaną (“to move quickly”), from Proto-Indo-European *skek- (“to move quickly, jump”).
Before rubber soles were popularised, almost all men's footwear was soled with leather. It was common knowledge in those times that a leather soled shoe required special care; in particular, wearing a new pair in the rain was shoeicide. The reason was simple. As a natural material, leather is absorbent.
One of the earliest forms of foot protects, the first known depiction of boots was found in cave paintings in northern Spain that date back to 15,000 BC. Defined as footwear that covers the entire foot and part of the leg, boots offered more protection than shoes and were originally designed for work.
Cavemen during the Stone Age are also believed to have worn sandals, likely made from straw to protect the soles of their feet. While no shoes from that time have been found, cave art discovered in the Cave of Altamira in Cantabria, Spain depict hunters wearing animal hide and fur boots on their feet.
The wealth of shoes, sandals and other footwear from ancient Egypt is poorly understood due to lack of research. This is remarkable, because from the very beginning of Egypt's long history footwear served practical as well as more spiritual purposes.
Medieval shoes were rather thin compared to our shoes today and might wear out quickly without pattens. Even many layers of leather stitched to the sole of the shoe might not last that long. Shoe repairs and the reuse of leather was common, especially on the thin soles.
Runners: this is what Australians call their sneakers or trainers.
Humans have actually been wearing shoes of some sort for at least 40,000 years. Analysis of skeletons from Tiankyuan Cave in China showed changes in toe bones potentially associated with decreases in strain on the forefoot from not walking barefoot.
In 1971, Nike got its first shoe nicknamed the 'Moon Shoe' which was made in a waffle iron. The grid-like pattern of the waffle iron was replicated on the sole of the shoe. It was 1971. An ex-college runner, Phil Knight, and his coach, Bill Bowerman, started a small company known as Blue Ribbon Sports.