What's the story behind the world's leading brands?

Facebook (2004)
Levi Strauss & Co. (1853)
Chanel (1910)
Mercedes-Benz (1926)
Microsoft (1975)
Coca-Cola (1886)
Pepsi-Cola (1893)
Honda (1949)
Tesla (2003)
Rolex (1905)
Louis Vuitton (1854)
McDonald's (1948)
Tiffany & Co (1837)
Apple (1976)
Aston Martin (1913)
Campbell Soup Company (1869)
Zara (1975)
Sony (1946)
Amazon (1994)
Starbucks (1987)
Gucci (1921)
Nike (1971)
Volkswagen (1937)
Twitter (2006)
Adidas (1949)
Facebook (2004)

Two young Harvard students, Mark Zuckerberg and Chris Hughes, founded Facebook in 2004, without knowing they would change the internet and social media forever.

Levi Strauss & Co. (1853)

German immigrant Levi Strauss opened a store in San Francisco, California in 1853. This is regarded as the starting point of the worldwide clothing brand known for its denim jeans.

Chanel (1910)

Chanel, one of the most well-known luxury brands around the globe, began as a Parisian millinery in 1910 by Coco Chanel.

Image: Hu Jiarui / Unsplash

Mercedes-Benz (1926)

In 1926, two German automakers, Daimler Motorengesellschaft and Benz & Cie, merged to form Daimler-Benz AG. Eventually, they would take the name of one of its most celebrated models: Mercedes-Benz.

Image: Cédric Steit / Unsplash

Microsoft (1975)

Bill Gates and Paul Allen were two twenty-something whiz kids that took computers to new limits in 1975 when they started a little company called Microsoft in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Coca-Cola (1886)

Hailing from the US South, this iconic soft beverage was created in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1886.

Image: Maximilian Bruck / Unsplash

Pepsi-Cola (1893)

Of course, Coke's greatest rival is Pepsi. Invented in 1893, this drink is attributed to chemist Caleb Davis Bradham. It began to be mass-produced in North Carolina in 1902.

 

Image: Jaxon Gee-Dub

Honda (1949)

This Japanese car company was started by Soichiro Honda in 1949.

Image: C Joyful / Unsplash

Tesla (2003)

This electric car company was formed in 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. Elon Musk was part of the team since the beginning and soon took the lead of the company.

Image: Priscilla Du Preez / Unsplash

Rolex (1905)

The world-famous Swiss clockmaker started to tick in Geneva in 1905 under the name Wilsdorf & Davis, after its founders. The company adopted the name Rolex in 1908 and history was made.

Louis Vuitton (1854)

One of the most recognizable luxury brands in the world, Louis Vuitton began in Paris in 1854 as a luggage-making firm.

Image: Christian Viediger / Unsplash

McDonald's (1948)

The first McDonald's opened in 1940 in San Bernardino, California, not far from Route 66. The McDonald brothers sold the franchise rights to Roy Kroc in the 1960s, who turn it into a world-famous American institution.

Image: Thabang / Unsplash

Tiffany & Co (1837)

The iconic New York Jewelry brand began as Stationery and Fancy Goods Emporium in 1837 but would morph into Tiffany & Co in 1853.

Image: Serena T / Unsplash

Apple (1976)

One of the biggest tech innovators in the world, Apple began as an association between Steve Jobs (pictured), Steve Wozniak, and Ron Wayne in 1976.

Aston Martin (1913)

Known as the James Bond car brand of choice, Aston Martin was founded by Robert Bamford and Lionel Martin in 1913.

Image: Carlo D'Agnolo / Unsplash

Campbell Soup Company (1869)

Immortalized by the works of Andy Warhol, this iconic soup brand began in Camden, New Jersey, in 1869.

Image: Calle Macarone / Unsplash

Zara (1975)

This top European clothing brand began in the city of A Coruña, in northern Spain, in 1975.

Image: Praswin Prakashan / Unsplash

Sony (1946)

The Japanese corporation behind the Walkman and the PlayStation began to revolutionize the world in 1946.

Image: Florian Schmetz / Unsplash

Amazon (1994)

In 1994 a then-unknown Jeff Bezos began an online store by the name of Cadabra. One year later, he changed the name to Amazon and began selling books. The rest is internet history.

Starbucks (1987)

Although the first Starbucks had a short-lived existence in the 1970s, it was the second iteration headed by Howard Schultz in 1987 the leading coffee shop franchise that we know today.

Image: Grigorii Shcheglov / Unsplash

Gucci (1921)

Guccio Gucci, after working in hotels in London and Paris where he learned about elegance and sophistication, decided to start his own leather luggage business in Florence in 1921.

Image: Fernando Hernandez / Unsplash

Nike (1971)

Nike is the Greek goddess of victory and that's the name Blue that Ribbon Sports, originally founded in 1964, adopted in 1971 turning into one of the most iconic sporting clothes brands in the world.

Volkswagen (1937)

This iconic German vehicle brand, whose name means 'People's Car', began in Nazi Germany in 1937.

Twitter (2006)

Recently acquired by South African-born billionaire Elon Musk, the blue bird social network began on July 15, 2006.

Adidas (1949)

Adolf Dassler founded Adidas in 1949. It was a schism from the family company that had been dedicated to athletic footwear since the 1920s. Another schism? Puma.

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