Early shoes made no distinction between left and right feet.

Science & Industry

F ootwear has existed in one form or another for at least 50,000 years, since people first began protecting their feet from frigid conditions. But like a lot of life-changing products, shoes are much more precise now than when they were first brought to market. In fact, it wasn't until 1860 that shoes took on their familiar form, after centuries of a different approach.

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By the Numbers

Shoe size of Robert Wadlow, the tallest man to ever live (8'11")

Auction price of a pair of ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz

$28 million

Did you know?

The world's oldest leather shoe was discovered in a cave.

Like the oldest known footwear, the world's oldest leather shoe was found in a cave — this one in Armenia. (Older shoes, including the Fort Rock sandals, were made of cheaper material such as shredded sagebrush bark.) The aptly named Areni-1 shoe is approximately 5,500 years old and was found in the Areni-1 cave, which is located in the Vayots Dzor province in southeastern Armenia. Thanks to the cave's cool, dry conditions and several layers of sheep dung keeping it in pristine condition for several millennia, the one-piece shoe was nearly perfectly preserved (including intact laces) when researchers discovered it in 2008.