LEGO LEGO is a line of toys featuring plastic brick s , gear s , minifigure s ( also called minifigs and figs ) in a variety of colors , and other pieces which can be assembled to create models of almost anything imaginable . Cars , planes , trains , buildings , castles , sculptures , ships , spaceships , and even working robots are just part of a extremely short list of the many things that can be built with LEGO bricks . High production quality and careful attention to detail ensures that LEGO pieces can fit together in myriad ways , which is one of the main reasons for the toy ' s success . Coincidentally , " LEGO " translates into various Latin meanings such as " Assemble " and " Connect " . The sets are produced by the LEGO Group , a privately - held company based in Denmark . History . The LEGO Group had humble beginnings , starting in the workshop of Ole Kirk Christiansen , a carpenter from Billund , Denmark . The word LEGO is a contraction of two Danish words " leg " and " godt " meaning " play well " . In 1916 , Christiansen bought a woodworking shop in Billund which had been in business since 1895 . He earned his living by constructing houses and furniture for farmers in the region , with the help of a small staff of apprentices . His workshop burned down in 1924 when a fire , lit by two of his young sons , ignited some wood shavings . Undaunted , Ole Kirk took the disaster as an opportunity to construct a larger workshop , and worked towards expanding his business even further ; however , the Great Depression would soon have an impact on his livelihood . In finding ways to minimize production costs , Ole Kirk began producing miniature versions of his products as design aids . It was these miniature stepladders and ironing boards that inspired him to begin producing toys . In 1932 , Ole Kirk ' s shop started making wooden pull toys , piggy banks , cars and trucks . He enjoyed a modest amount of success , but families were poor and often unable to afford such toys . Farmers in the area sometimes traded food in exchange for his toys ; Ole Kirk found he had to continue producing practical furniture in addition to toys in order to stay in business . In the mid - 1930s , the yo - yo toy fad gave him a brief period of activity , until it suddenly collapsed . Once again , Ole Kirk turned disadvantage to his favor , turning the disused yo - yo parts into wheels for a toy truck . His son , Godtfred Kirk Christiansen , began working for him , taking an active role in the company . It was in 1934 that the company name LEGO was coined . Ole Kirk held a contest among his staff to see who could come up with the best name for the company , offering a bottle of homemade wine as a prize . Christiansen was considering two names himself , " Legio " ( with the implication of a " Legion of toys " ) and " LEGO " , a self - made contraction from the Danish phrase leg godt , meaning " play well . " Later the LEGO Group discovered that " LEGO " can be loosely interpreted as " I put together " or " I assemble " in Latin . When plastic came into widespread use , Ole Kirk kept with the times and began producing plastic toys . One of the first modular toys to be produced was a truck that could be taken apart and re - assembled . In 1947 , Ole Kirk and Godtfred obtained samples of interlocking plastic bricks produced by the company Kiddicraft . These " Kiddicraft Self - Locking Building Bricks " were designed and patented by Mr . Hilary Harry Fisher Page , a British citizen . In 1949 the LEGO Group began producing similar bricks , calling them " Automatic Binding Bricks . " LEGO brick s , manufactured from cellulose acetate , were developed in the spirit of traditional wooden blocks that could be stacked upon one another ; however , these plastic bricks could be " locked " together . They had several round " studs " on top , and a hollow rectangular bottom . They would stick together , but not so tightly that they could not be pulled apart . In 1953 , the bricks were given a new name : LEGO Mursten , or " LEGO Bricks . " The use of plastic for toy manufacture was not highly regarded by retailers and consumers of the time . Many of the LEGO Group ' s shipments were returned , following poor sales ; it was thought that plastic toys could never replace wooden ones . Despite such criticism , however , the Kirk Christiansens persevered . By 1954 , Godtfred had become the junior managing director of the LEGO Group . It was his conversation with an overseas buyer that struck 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 very versatile . It was not until 1958 that the modern - day brick design was developed . The bricks were improved with hollow tubes in the underside of the brick . This added support in the base , enabling much better locking ability and improved versatility . That same year , Ole Kirk Christiansen died , and Godtfred inherited leadership of the company . Growth . The LEGO Group matured a great deal over the next up and coming years . In 1959 , the Futura division was founded within the company . Its tiny staff was responsible for generating ideas for new sets . Another warehouse fire struck the LEGO Group in 1960 , consuming most of the company ' s inventory of wooden toys ; fortunately for the company , the LEGO brick line was strong enough by then that the company decided to abandon production of wooden toys . By the end of the year , the staff of the LEGO Group had come to be over 450 total people . 1961 and 1962 saw the introduction of the first LEGO wheels , an addition that expanded the potential for building cars , trucks , buses and other vehicles from LEGO bricks . Also during this time , the LEGO Group introduced toys specifically targeted towards the pre - school market , and made an arrangement allowing Samsonite to begin producing and selling LEGO products in Canada , an arrangement that would continue until 1988 . There were more than 50 set s of bricks in the LEGO System of Play by this time . In 1963 , the material used to create LEGO bricks , cellulose acetate , was dropped in favor of more stable acrylonitrile butadiene styrene ( ABS plastic ) , which is still used today . ABS is non - toxic , is less prone to discoloration and warping , and is also more resistant to heat , acids , salt , and other chemicals than cellulose acetate . LEGO bricks manufactured from ABS plastic in 1963 still hold most of their shape and colour 50 years later , and still neatly interlock with the most recently manufactured LEGO bricks . [ citation needed ] 1964 was the first time that instruction manuals were included in LEGO sets . One of the LEGO Group ' s most successful series , the LEGO train system , was first released in 1966 . The original train sets included a 4 . 5 - volt motor and rails ; two years later , a 12 - volt motor was introduced . On June 7 , 1968 , the first LEGOLAND park was opened in Billund . This theme park featured elaborate models of miniature towns built entirely from LEGO bricks . The three acre ( 12 , 000 m² ) park attracted 625 , 000 visitors in its first year alone . During the next 20 years , the park grew to more than eight times its original size , and eventually averaged close to a million paying visitors per year . More than eighteen million LEGO sets were sold in 1968 . In 1969 , the DUPLO system went on sale . This was a newly developed system , targeted towards younger children ; DUPLO bricks are much larger than LEGO bricks , making them safer for very young children , but the two systems are compatible : LEGO bricks can be fitted neatly onto DUPLO bricks , making the transition to the LEGO system easily made as children outgrow their DUPLO bricks . The prefix " du " in DUPLO refers to the number 2 , of which , a duplo brick is exactly twice the dimension of a LEGO building brick ( 2x height by 2x width by 2x depth = 8x the volume of a brick ) The 1960s were such a period of growth for the LEGO Group that by 1970 , one of the biggest questions they faced was how best to manage and control its expanding market . Expansion . By 1970 , the LEGO Group had a staff of more than 900 . The coming decades marked considerable expansion into new frontiers of toy making and marketing . LEGO began to target the female market with the introduction of furniture pieces and dollhouses in 1971 . The LEGO universe expanded its transportation possibilities with the addition of boat and ship sets , with hull pieces that actually floated , in 1972 . During this same period , Godtfred Kirk Christiansen ' s son , Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen , joined the managerial staff of the company , after earning business degrees in Switzerland and Denmark . One of Kjeld ' s first achievements with the company was the foundation of manufacturing facilities , as well as a research and development department that would be responsible for keeping the company ' s manufacturing methods up to date . Human figures with posable arms made an appearance in 1974 in " LEGO family " sets , which went on to become the biggest sellers at the time ; in the same year , an early version of the " minifigure " miniature LEGO person was introduced , but it was not posable and had no face printed on its head . A LEGO production plant was opened in Enfield , Connecticut in the United States . " Expert Series " sets were first introduced in 1975 , geared towards older , more experienced LEGO builders . This line soon developed into the " Expert Builder " sets , released in 1977 . These technical sets featured moving parts such as gears , differentials , cogs , levers , axles and universal joints , and permitted the construction of realistic models such as automobiles , with functional rack and pinion steering and lifelike engine movements . Finally , the LEGO world came together in 1978 with the addition of the LEGO " minifigure " . These small LEGO people have posable arms and legs , and a friendly smile . The figure was used in many varieties of LEGO sets , allowing consumers to construct elaborate towns with buildings , roads , vehicles , trains , and boats , at the same scale , and populated with the smiling minifigure LEGO citizens . Another significant expansion to the LEGO line occurred in 1979 , with the creation of LEGO Space sets . Astronaut minifigures , rockets , lunar rovers and spaceships populated this successful series . The Scala series debuted in this year as well , featuring jewelry elements marketed towards young girls . Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen became the president of LEGO in this year ; another decade concluded with LEGO toys still going strong . LEGO bricks had always had a constructive potential that was seen by some educators as being an invaluable asset in helping children to develop creativity and problem - solving abilities . Since the 1960s , teachers had been using LEGO bricks in the classroom for a variety of reasons . In 1980 , the LEGO Group established the Educational Products Department ( eventually renamed LEGO Dacta , in 1989 ) , specifically to expand the educational possibilities of their toys . A packing and assembly factory opened in Switzerland , followed by another in Jutland , Denmark that manufactured LEGO tires . The second generation of LEGO trains appeared in 1981 . As before these were available in either 4 . 5 V ( battery powered ) or 12 V ( mains powered ) , but a much wider variety of accessories were available , including working lights , remote - controlled points and signals , and decouplers . The " Expert Builder " series matured in 1982 , becoming the " Technic " series . August 13 of that year marked the LEGO Group ' s 50th anniversary ; the book 50 Years of Play was published to commemorate the occasion . In the following year , the DUPLO system was expanded to include sets for even younger audiences , particularly infants ; new sets included baby rattles and figures with adjustable limbs . The year after , LEGO minifigure citizens gained a realm of knights and horses , with the introduction of the first Castle sets . Light & Sound sets made their appearance in 1985 ; these sets included a battery pack with electrical lights , buzzers , and other accessories to add another dimension of realism to LEGO creations . Also that year , the LEGO Group ' s educational division produced the Technic Computer Control , which was an educational system whereby Technic robots , trucks , and other motorized models could be controlled with a computer . Manaus , Brazil gained a LEGO factory in this year , as well . In 1984 , the Technic line was expanded with the addition of pneumatic components . In August 1988 , 38 children from 17 different countries took part in the first LEGO World Cup building contest , held in Billund . That same year , LEGO Canada was established . The LEGO line grew again in 1989 with the release of the LEGO Pirates series , which featured a variety of pirate ships , desert islands and treasure ; the series was also the first to depart from the standard minifigure smiling face to create an array of piratical characters . The LEGO Group ' s Educational Products Department was renamed LEGO Dakta in this year ; the name is derived from the Greek word " didactic " , which roughly means " the study of the learning process . " MIT ' s Dr . Seymour Papert , from the Laboratory of Computer Learning , was named " LEGO Professor of Learning Research , " after his ongoing work in linking the Logo programming language with LEGO products . A new series designed for advanced builders was released in 1990 . Three Model Team sets , including a race car and an off - road vehicle , featured a level of detail and realism not previously seen in any LEGO series . Where Technic was mechanically accurate , Model Team was visually and stylistically accurate . The LEGO Group became one of the top 10 toy companies in this year ; it was the only toy company in Europe to be among the top 10 . LEGOLAND Billund had more than one million visitors in this year , for the first time in its history . The first - ever " LEGO Professor of Business Dynamics , " Xavier Gilbert , was appointed to an endowed chair at the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne , Switzerland . LEGO Malaysia was also established in 1990 . In 1991 , the LEGO Group standardized its electrical components and systems ; the Trains and Technic motors were made 9V to bring the systems into line with the rest of the LEGO range . Two Guinness records were set in 1992 using LEGO products : A castle made from 400 , 000 LEGO bricks , and measuring 4 . 45 meters by 5 . 22 meters , was built on Swedish television , and a LEGO railway line 545 meters in length , with three locomotives , was constructed . DUPLO was augmented with the addition of the Toolo line featuring a screwdriver , wrench , nuts and bolts ; the Paradisa line , targeted towards girls , brought a variety of new pastel colors into the LEGO system and focused around horses and a beach theme . 1993 brought a DUPLO train and a parrot - shaped " brickvac " that could scoop LEGO . A model of St Paul ' s Cathedral in London can be seen in LEGOLAND Windsor . It is made of thousands of LEGO bricks . The rotating model of the London Eye in the background is also made of LEGO bricks . Early Prototypes of the LEGO minifigure had a variety of skin colors and facial expressions , but production designs used only a yellow skin color and standard smiling face . LEGO Pirates in 1989 expanded the array of facial expressions by adding beards and eye patches . Soon the other themes caught on , ranging from sun glasses , lipstick , eye lashes , and so on . However , many of the older collectors resented the new look , saying they looked too " cartoon - ish " or " kiddy " , and preferred the simplistic nature of the two eyes and smile . Nevertheless , from 1999 licensed series such as LEGO Star Wars and LEGO Harry Potter gave minifigures the personas of specific characters from their cinematic counterparts , but it was not until 2003 , with the introduction of LEGO Basketball , that the palette of skin tones broadened to include more lifelike colors . In the late 1990s , the LEGO Group brought out a series of new and specialized ranges aimed at particular demographics . The BIONICLE range uses Technic pieces and specialist moldings to create a set of action figures for boys , while Belville is a more conventional line aimed at girls and featuring large posable figures like those in the Technic range . A " LEGO 4 Juniors " group features 2 - inch ( 51 mm ) tall medium - sized figures ( " medi - figure " ) without jointed arms , and longer legs than the classic LEGO minifigure . In 2003 , the LEGO Group introduced a completely new system , Clikits , aimed at girls and consisting of customizable plastic jewelry and accessories . In 2004 , LEGO added the QUATRO brick , for ages 1 – 3 . Much like DUPLO and the " du " prefix , a Quatro brick is 4 times the dimension of a regular LEGO brick , and is compatible with the DUPLO brick . Also that year , they created the second line of Knights Kingdom themed product . The late 1990s also saw the first products featuring licensed characters . In 1999 , Star Wars LEGO and Winnie the Pooh DUPLO were released . These were followed by characters from Harry Potter to Steven Spielberg . Before this , LEGO characters were always designed in - house , and lacked the strong characterization of these licensed characters . A number of in - house characters after this point were strongly characterized with media utilization and non - LEGO System merchandising in mind , most notably BIONICLE . BIONICLE was one of LEGO ' s most popular series . It was also an entirely new thing for LEGO ; it had a real , authentic story , with books , action - figure style beings , and an entirely new world . Over the years , BIONICLE changed and grew , and eventually was discontinued . In 2004 , the LEGO company was losing lots of money . After trying a few things , they : Changed CEOs , sold the LEGOLAND theme parks to Merlin Entertainment , and discontinued many themes . The LEGO trademark . The LEGO Group ' s name has become so synonymous with its flagship toy that many use the words " LEGO " ( collectively ) or " LEGOs " to refer to the bricks themselves , and even to any plastic bricks resembling LEGO bricks , although the LEGO Group discourages this as dilution of their trademark . LEGO catalogs in the 1970 s and 1980 s contained a note that read : The word LEGO® is a brand name and is very special to all of us in the LEGO Group Companies . We would sincerely like your help in keeping it special . Please always refer to our bricks as ' LEGO Bricks or Toys ' and not ' legos . ' By doing so , you will be helping to protect and preserve a brand of which we are very proud and that stands for quality the world over . Thank you ! Susan Williams , Consumer Services . " LEGO " is officially written in all uppercase letters . The company asserts that to protect its brand name , the word LEGO must always be used as an adjective , as in " LEGO set , " " LEGO products , " " LEGO universe , " and so forth . Nevertheless , such corporate admonitions are frequently ignored as corporate intervention in the use of language , and the word " lego " is commonly used not only as a noun to refer to LEGO bricks but also as a generic term referring to any kind of interlocking toy brick . Design and manufacture . Since their introduction in 1949 , LEGO pieces of all varieties have been , first and foremost , part of a " system " . LEGO pieces from 1963 still interlock with pieces made today , despite radical changes in shape and design over the years . Retail LEGO sets for young children are compatible with those made for teenagers . Bricks , beams , axles , minifigures , and all other elements in the LEGO system are manufactured to an exacting degree of tolerance . When snapped together , pieces must have just the right amount of " clutch power " ; they must stay together until pulled apart . They cannot be too easy to pull apart , or the result will be LEGO creations that are unstable ; they cannot be too difficult to pull apart , since the disassembly of one creation in order to build another is part of the LEGO appeal . In order for pieces to have just the right " clutch power " , LEGO elements are manufactured within a tolerance of 2 micrometers ( 0 . 00008 in ) . Since 1963 , LEGO pieces are manufactured from a strong , resilient plastic known as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene , or ABS . Precision - machined , small - capacity molds are used , and human inspectors meticulously check the output of the molds , to eliminate significant variations in color or thickness . Worn - out molds are encased in the foundations of buildings to prevent their falling into competitors ' hands . According to the LEGO Group , its molding processes are so accurate that only 18 bricks out of every million fail to meet its stringent standards . It is thanks to this care in manufacturing that the LEGO Group has maintained such a high degree of quality over the decades ; this is one of the main reasons that pieces manufactured over 40 years ago still interlock neatly with pieces manufactured today . Manufacturing of LEGO bricks occurs at a number of locations around the world . Molding is done at one of two plants in Denmark and Switzerland . Brick decorations and packaging is done at plants in Denmark , Switzerland , United States , South Korea , the Czech Republic and more recently , China . Annual production of LEGO bricks averages approximately 20 billion ( 2 × 10 ) per year , or about 600 pieces per second . LEGO today . Since it began producing plastic bricks , the LEGO Group has released thousands of play sets themed around Space , robots , Pirate , Vikings , Knight ' s Kingdom , Dinosaurs , cities , suburbia , holiday locations , Wild West , the Arctic , Ferrari , Trains , " Spider - Man " , " Star Wars " , " Harry Potter " , " BIONICLE " , and more . Sets containing new pieces are released frequently . In 2006 LEGO announced the procurement of worldwide toy rights with the cable TV channel Nickelodeon for building sets with themes from two hit TV shows , " SpongeBob SquarePants " and " " . There are also motors , gears , lights , sensors , and cameras available to be used with LEGO components . There are even special bricks , like the LEGO RCX that can be programmed with a PC to perform very complicated and useful tasks . These programmable bricks are sold under the name LEGO Mindstorms . There are several competitions which use LEGO bricks and the RCX , among other microcontrollers , for robotics . The earliest , and likely the largest , is Botball , a national US middle - and high - school competition stemming from the MIT 6270 LEGO robotics tournament . A related competition is First LEGO League for elementary and middle schools . The international RoboCup Junior autonomous Soccer competition involves extensive use of LEGO Mindstorms equipment which is often pushed to its limits . LEGO Mindstorms provides primary and secondary school aged participants of RoboCup Junior an easy and intuitive introduction to robotics . It also allows advanced participants an opportunity to modify the LEGO Mindstorms platform , adding their own sensors and actuators , as well as other mechanical , electrical , electronic and software related systems . LEGO Group operates several LEGOland amusement parks in Europe and California . There are also several LEGO retail stores , including one in Walt Disney World ' s Downtown Disney area near Orlando , Florida and in the Mall of America in Bloomington , Minnesota . As of year end 2005 , there are 25 LEGO Brand Retail stores in the USA , a number of stores in Europe , and a franchised LEGO store in Abu Dhabi . Novel applications of LEGO . LEGO bricks today are used for purposes beyond children ' s play . The LEGO Group itself has developed a form of business consultancy fostering creative thinking , called LEGO Serious Play , in which team members build metaphors of their organisational experiences using LEGO bricks , and work through imaginary scenarios using the visual device of the LEGO constructions and by exploring possibilities in a ' serious ' form of ' play ' . A cult following of people who have used LEGO pieces to make sculptures , very large mosaics and complex machines has developed . Some sculptures use hundreds of thousands of pieces and weigh tens of kilograms . Large mosaics , fully functional padlocks and pendulum clocks , a harpsichord and an inkjet printer ( built by Google co - founder Larry Page while at the University of Michigan ) have been constructed from LEGO pieces . One such masterpiece solves a Rubik ' s Cube through the use of LEGO motors and cameras , a task that many humans cannot accomplish . Even an eclipse - predicting computer was once built ! Photos of many fan creations like these can be seen at Brickshelf and at MOCpages . A group which calls itself " AFOLs " ( for " Adult Fans of LEGO " ) is an important demographic for The LEGO Group , which has recently begun reintroducing popular sets from previous years to appeal to this group . The LEGO system in art . One hobby among enthusiasts is to re - create popular scenes from famous movies , using LEGO bricks for the scenery and LEGO play sets as characters . Such movies are called " LEGO movies " , " Brickfilms " , or " cinema LEGO " . They usually use stop - motion animation . For example , the " Monty Python and the Holy Grail " Special Edition DVD contained a version of the " Camelot " musical sequence redone with LEGO minifigure s and accessories . Artists have also used LEGO sets with one of the more notorious examples being Polish artist Zbigniew Libera ' s " LEGO Concentration Camp , " a collection of mocked - up concentration camp - themed LEGO sets . The Little Artists have created an entire Modern Art collection in a LEGO Gallery . ' Art Craziest Nation ' was shown at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool , UK . Another notable example is the award - winning music video for the song " Fell in Love with a Girl " by the White Stripes . Director Michel Gondry filmed a live version of the video , digitized the result , and then recreated it entirely with LEGO bricks . In 2009 , TV Presenter and Broadcaster James May and 1000 other volunteers built a full - size house in a vineyard in Surrey , England , complete with functioning toilet and hot shower , using 3 . 3 million LEGO bricks for his television show " James May ' s Toy Stories " . It was valued as a property at between £5000 and £20 , 000 , and as a piece of art Paul Nelson of the University for the Creative Arts valued it at £500 , 000 . Due to issues over the license for the LEGO bricks and nobody purchasing the house after LEGOLAND Windsor rejected it over the cost and implications of moving the structure , it was demolished later that year . Several webcomics are illustrated with LEGO , notably Irregular Webcomic ! . LEGO itself sells a line of set s named " LEGO Studios , " which contains a LEGO web cam ( repackaged Logitech USB Quickcam ) , software to record video on a computer , clear plastic rods which can be used to manipulate minifigures from off - camera , and a Director minifigure . References , and further reading . 2005 : 2003 : 2001 : 1999 : 1987 :