Who invented Lego and when was it first made?
Today is International Lego Day, a day to honor one of history's most popular and long-lasting toys.
For 70 years, children and adults have been captivated by the small plastic bricks.
The company name is an abbreviation of the two Danish words 'leg godt', which means 'play well.'
The international celebration is held on January 28th because Lego submitted the patent application for the bricks we know and love today on this day in 1958 - with interlocking studs and tubes.
For 70 years, children and adults have been captivated by the small plastic bricks.
The company name is an abbreviation of the two Danish words 'leg godt', which means 'play well.'
The international celebration is held on January 28th because Lego submitted the patent application for the bricks we know and love today on this day in 1958 - with interlocking studs and tubes.
But if you've ever wondered where one of the world's most powerful brands came from, keep reading.
Who created Lego?
Carpenter Ole Kirk Christiansen founded the Lego Group in a small woodworking shop in Billund, Denmark, in 1932. He was skilled at creating various types of furniture and household items such as ladders, ironing boards, and Christmas tree stands. However, in order to create more marketable products, he focused on wooden toys such as cars, airplanes, and yoyos.
A few years later, he decided to focus on toy manufacturing, and the company was renamed Lego in 1935. It's an abbreviation of two Danish words that also means 'I put together' in Latin, which Christiansen didn't realize at the time.
Following the Second World War, a wood shortage forced Lego to look for alternative ways to make toys, so Christiansen ordered his first plastic-injection moulding machine from Britain. The company used this to develop the Automatic Binding Brick, the forerunner of today's stackable blocks.
Then, on January 28, 1958, with Christiansen's son Godtfred now a part of the company, Lego patented the brick with a new coupling principle, opening up an infinite number of possibilities for what could be created.
After realizing that the construction sets would be more fun with a human dimension, the company introduced the iconic mini-figures in 1976.
The company was passed down from father to son and is now owned by Kjeld Kirk Christiansen, the founder's grandson, who is worth $6.75 billion.
Five interesting Lego facts
- If Lego figurines were real people, they would constitute the world's largest population, numbering over 4 billion.
- On average, each person on the planet owns 86 Lego bricks.
- The world's tallest Lego tower is 28.7m tall and was built with 465,000 bricks in Milan, Italy, in 2015.
- During the holiday season, nearly 28 Lego sets are sold every second.
- Every brick manufactured since 1958 would still fit perfectly together.
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