Colchester Rubber Co. The brand known for being the world’s first Sneaker brand and inventing the “World’s First Basketball Sneakers”, circa 1892. The town of Colchester was a mere 50 miles from Springfield, Massachusetts where basketball was invented in December 1891 by Dr. James Naismith. Given his interest in sport, it is believed that Irving Watkinson was a basketball player early in the life of the sport. Whatever his link with the sport and Dr. Naismith, it is considered that Irving Watkinson designed a shoe specifically for use playing basketball. A surviving pair of basketball shoes was discovered in December 2004 at an
James Naismith Instead, he was more interested in his physical education career, receiving an honorary PE Masters degree in 1910, patrolled the Mexican border for four months in 1916, traveled to France, published two books ("A Modern College" in 1911 and "Essence of a Healthy Life" in 1918). He took American citizenship in 1925. In 1909, Naismith's duties at Kansas were redefined as a Professorship; he served as the "de facto" athletic director at Kansas for much of the early 20th century. In 1923, Dr. Naismith was a founder of the Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity at the University of Kansas. Naismith was