Lego (/ˈlɛɡoʊ/ LEG-oh, Danish: [ˈle̝ːko];[1] stylised as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys that
are manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. As of
2021, Lego was the largest toy company in the world.[2] The company's flagship product, Lego,
consists of variously coloured interlocking plastic bricks accompanying an array of gears, figurines
called minifigures, and various other parts. Lego pieces can be assembled and connected in many
ways to construct objects, including vehicles, buildings, and working robots. Anything constructed
can be taken apart again, and the pieces reused to make new things.[3][4]
The Lego Group began manufacturing the interlocking toy bricks in 1949. Movies, games,
competitions and eight Legoland amusement parks have been developed under the brand. As of
July 2015, 600 billion Lego parts had been produced.[5]
The Lego Group began in the workshop of Ole Kirk Christiansen (1891–1958), a carpenter
from Billund, Denmark, who began making wooden toys in 1932.[6][7] In 1934, his company came to
be called "Lego", derived from the Danish phrase leg godt [lɑjˀ ˈkʌt],[8][9] which means "play well".[10] In
1947, Lego expanded to begin producing plastic toys.[11] In 1949 Lego began producing, among
other new products, an early version of the now familiar interlocking bricks, calling them "Automatic
Binding Bricks". These bricks were based on the Kiddicraft Self-Locking Bricks, which had been
patented in the United Kingdom in 1939[12] and released in 1947. Lego had received a sample of the
Kiddicraft bricks from the supplier of an injection-molding machine that it purchased.[13] The bricks,
originally manufactured from cellulose acetate,[14] were a development of the traditional stackable
wooden blocks of the time.[11]
The Lego Group's motto, "only the best is good enough"[15] (Danish: det bedste er ikke for godt,
literally "the best isn't excessively good") was created in 1936.[7] This motto, which is still used today,
was created by Christiansen to encourage his employees never to skimp on quality, a value he
believed in strongly.[7] By 1951 plastic toys accounted for half of the Lego company's output, even
though the Danish trade magazine Legetøjs-Tidende ("Toy Times"), visiting the Lego factory in
Billund in the early 1950s, felt that plastic would never be able to replace traditional wooden
toys.[16] Although a common sentiment, Lego toys seem to have become a significant exception to
the dislike of plastic in children's toys, due in part to the high standards set by Ole Kirk.[17]
By 1954, Christiansen's son, Godtfred, had become the junior managing director of the Lego
Group.[16] It was his conversation with an overseas buyer that led to the idea of a toy system.
Godtfred saw the immense potential in Lego bricks to become a system for creative play, but the
bricks still had some problems from a technical standpoint: their locking ability was limited and they
were not versatile.[3] In 1958, the modern brick design was developed; it took five years to find the
right material for it, ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) polymer.[13][14] A patent application for the
modern Lego brick design was filed in Denmark on 28 January 1958, and in various other countries
in the subsequent few years.[18][19]
Lego building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center
The Lego Group's Duplo product line was introduced in 1969 and is a range of simple blocks whose
lengths measure twice the width, height, and depth of standard Lego blocks and are aimed towards
younger children.[16][20]
In 1978, Lego produced the first minifigures, which have since become a staple in most sets.[21]
In May 2011, Space Shuttle Endeavour mission STS-134 brought 13 Lego kits to the International
Space Station, where astronauts built models to see how they would react in microgravity, as a part
of the Lego Bricks in Space program.[22][23]
In May 2013, the largest model ever created was displayed in New York City and was made of over
5 million bricks; a 1:1 scale model of an X-wing fighter.[24] Other records include a 34-metre (112 ft)
tower[25] and a 4 km (2.5 mi) railway.[26][27]
In February 2015, Lego replaced Ferrari as the "world's most powerful brand."[28][29]
In popular culture
Main article: Lego in popular culture
Lego's popularity is demonstrated by its wide representation and usage in many forms of cultural
works, including books, films and art work. It has even been used in the classroom as a teaching
tool.[30] In the US, Lego Education North America is a joint venture between Pitsco, Inc. and the
educational division of the Lego Group.[31]
In 1998, Lego bricks were one of the original inductees into the National Toy Hall of Fame at The
Strong in Rochester, New York.[32]