The Lego company was established by Ole Kirk Christiansen, a carpenter from Billund, Denmark. He began making wooden toys in 1932, but his business was a struggle during the Great Depression. Christiansen changed the name of the company “Lego,” which is a contraction of leg godt (which is “play well” in Danish).
In 1934 Lego adopted plastic bricks for production and the first sets were sold. The company also established an entirely new division, Dakta, that would focus on educational products.
In the second part of the 20th century, Lego expanded its product range and marketing efforts. In 1971 Lego introduced furniture pieces and dollhouses and in 1974, the first Lego human figures came out. Later, the minifigures evolved into the form we use today. Lego began to produce more advanced Lego Technic sets for older children.
Lego introduced the World Cup Lego Building Contest in 1987 to encourage children to participate. The event took place in Billund and 38 kids from 17 countries participated. Lego began to create themes in the same year. These sets were seen as a system within the system. These 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 facial features of various types and expressions.
In 1999, Lego changed the way it licensed characters from franchises. It began offering lego stores use virtual data rooms Lego versions of characters like Spider-Man and Star Wars. Harry Potter, Avatar: The Last Airbender and many more. This move was met with mixed responses from fans and critics alike.