Today (January 28) marks International LEGO Day, commemorating the 1958 patent application by Danish carpenter Godtfred Kirk Christiansen for the iconic brick. The company, now the world's largest toy manufacturer by sales, has a name with a hidden meaning that many are only just discovering.
LEGO was founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen in a modest woodworking workshop in Billund, Denmark. Initially producing wooden toy bricks, Kristiansen coined the name 'LEGO' four years later, derived from the Danish phrase 'leg godt', meaning 'play well'. According to the company, he also considered 'Legio' (legions) but chose the name that embodies high-quality play and commitment to children's development.
Interestingly, the Latin word 'lego' translates to 'I put together', a coincidence that was not intentional. The business passed from father to son and remains under family control through grandson Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen.
A devastating fire in 1942 forced a transformation, leading Ole to purchase a plastic injection moulding machine from the UK. By 1945, he convinced his son Godtfred that plastic was the future. The company introduced 'automatic binding bricks', later rebranded as 'Lego Mursten' or 'Lego Bricks', with each brick stamped with the name.
Another fire in 1960 destroyed the wooden toy warehouse, prompting the firm to commit exclusively to plastic brick production. By July 2015, 600 billion Lego components had been manufactured.
