On July 9, 1877, the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club began its first law tennis tournament at Wimbledon. Among the winners of the Wimbledon tournament during its storied history is a least one inventor — an entrepreneur and master marketer, knowns as the Crocodile. Rene Lacoste, who won the tournament in 1925 and 1928, was the inventor on several patents, including U.S. Patent No. 3,086,777 on a Racket for Lawn-Tennis and Similar Games (one of the early steel tennis rackets):

U.S. Patent No. 3,078,098, on Tennis Rackets and the Like (which old timers may recognize as the T-2000 wielded by Jimmy Connors):

U.S. Patent No. 3,502,331 on Rackets for Tennis or Similar Games:

U.S. Patent No. 1,777,976 on a Ball Throwing Device:

U.S. Patent No. 2,927,326 on Shirts with Attached Collars:

Jean Rene Lacoste died October 12, 1996, at the age of 92, but his name lives on in the sportswear company that bears his name. The Crocodile, sportsman, entrepreneur, and inventor.