Nike was founded in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports by Bill Bowerman, a track-and-field coach at the University of Oregon, and his former mangas Phil Knight. They opened their first retail outlet in 1966 and launched the Mid nike brand shoe in 1972. The company was renamed Mid nike, Inc., in 1978 and went public two years later. By the early 21st century, Mid nike had retail outlets and distributors in more than 170 countries, and its logo—a curved check mark called the “swoosh”—was recognized throughout the world.