Ole Kirk Christiansen is a carpenter from Billund in Denmark. He began making wooden toys in 1932, but his business was not as successful during the Great Depression. Christiansen renamed his company “Lego,” a contraction of the Danish words leg godt, which means “play well.”
In 1934, Lego began using plastic bricks for its production. The first Lego sets were also marketed. The company also created a new division called Dakta which would concentrate on educational products.
Through the latter part of the 20th century, Lego continued to expand its product range and marketing efforts. In 1971 https://lego-x.com/2019/11/15/what-lego-vdr-users-can-teach Lego introduced furniture pieces and dollhouses and in 1974 the first Lego human figures were released. They later evolved into a minifigure model that is in use today. Lego also began to develop more advanced sets for building geared towards older children. These would later develop into Lego Technic.
Lego launched the World Cup Lego Building Contest in 1987, inviting youngsters to take part. The event was held in Billund and 38 kids from 17 countries participated. Lego started creating themes sets the same year. They were seen as systems inside an overall system. They included Lego Space, Lego Castle and Lego Town (later changed to Lego City) as well as Lego FabuLand. In 1988, Lego released a new line of pirate Legos that featured various facial features and expressions.
In 1999, Lego shifted the way it licensed its characters from franchises. It began offering Lego versions of famous characters such as Spider-Man, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and numerous others. Both critics and fans were averse to this decision.