The Lego company was founded by Ole Kirk Christiansen, a carpenter from Billund, Denmark. His company was a struggle through the Great Depression, and he began making wooden toys. Christiansen changed the company’s name to « Lego, » which is a contraction of leg godt (which means « play well » in Danish).
In 1934 Lego introduced plastic bricks for production and the first sets were released for sale. The company also created Dakta, a new division Dakta which would concentrate on education products.
Throughout the latter part of the 20th century, Lego continued to expand its product range and marketing efforts. In 1971, Lego introduced furniture pieces and dollhouses and in 1974, the first Lego human figures came out. They evolved into the minifigure designs that are still in use today. Lego began to create more sophisticated Lego Technic sets for older children.
Lego introduced the World Cup Lego Building Contest in 1987 to encourage youngsters to take part. The event was held in Billund and 38 children from 17 different nations participated. The same year, Lego also began to develop themed sets that were seen as systems within an overall system, such as Lego Space, Lego Castle, Lego Town (later renamed Lego City), and Lego FabuLand. In 1988, Lego released a new line of pirate Legos which included various facial features and expressions.
In 1999, Lego shifted the way it licensed its characters from franchises. It began offering Lego versions of the most popular characters like Spider-Man and Star Wars. Harry Potter, Avatar: The Last Airbender and many more. The move today lego fan tomorrow it architect and vdr provider was met with mixed reviews from fans and critics alike.