Short answers, pulled from the story.
Adidas was founded by Adolf "Adi" Dassler, who began making sports shoes in his mother's scullery in Herzogenaurach, Germany after World War I. His brother Rudolf joined the business in July 1924 under the name Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik. Adolf registered Adidas AG on the 18th of August 1949, after the brothers' partnership collapsed.
Adidas acquired the three-stripe mark in 1952 from Finnish sporting goods company Karhu Sports, paying two bottles of whiskey and the equivalent of €1,600. Adolf Dassler came to describe Adidas as "The three stripes company".
In 1936, Adolf Dassler persuaded American sprinter Jesse Owens to wear his handmade spiked shoes at the Berlin Summer Olympics. Owens went on to win four gold medals, making the Dassler name known to sportsmen and coaches around the world.
Adidas and Puma were formed after the Dassler brothers, Adolf and Rudolf, had a falling-out and separated in 1947. Adolf registered Adidas AG in 1949 and Rudolf formed a company he later named Puma. Their rivalry divided their hometown of Herzogenaurach so deeply that it became known as "the town of bent necks".
French businessman Bernard Tapie bought Adidas in 1990 for the equivalent of €243.9 million, which he borrowed in full. By 1992 he could not pay the loan interest, and Crédit Lyonnais took over the company's debt. Tapie later filed for personal bankruptcy in 1994 and served six months of an eighteen-month prison sentence at La Santé in Paris in 1997.
According to Adidas, the most successful shoe in its range is the Samba, credited to its retro design and versatility. The Copa Mundial football boot, released in 1979, holds the separate distinction of being the best-selling football boot of all time.