28 JANUARY 1958 – THE PATENT FOR LEGO IS REGISTERED
We know it today as brightly coloured plastic blocks that can be used to build anything – but the much-loved Lego toys actually started as wooden blocks in the workshop of Ole Kirk Christiansen.
Ole named his company Lego in
1934 after the Danish phrase leg godt, which roughly means play well. In 1949 Lego made their first plastic block, but Ole’s son, Godtfred Kirk, only registered the patent for the blocks nine years later on 28 January 1958.
A patent gives an inventor the exclusive right to make and sell something.
The basic design of the Lego block has remained the same over the years and has largely contrib
uted to the popularity of the toy. It is such a hit it’s been named the toy of the century by several publications and has been inducted into the American National Toy Hall of Fame.
In 1969 Lego introduced Duplo blocks, which are larger than the original blocks, making it easier for younger children to pick up and play with – and harder to accidentally swallow.
Lego blocks have even made it to space when some were taken to the International Space Station in 2011. Lego also expanded into amusement parks, with the first Legoland opening in 1968 in the Christiansens’ hometown of Billund, Denmark. There are 10 of these parks around the world. Giant versions of famous landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and America’s Mount Rushmore have been built out of Lego blocks, and Lego mini-figures have been the inspiration for everything from video games to movies, including The Lego Movie and The Lego Batman Movie.