On January 28, 1958 at 1:58 pm Godtfred Kirk Christiansen submitted the patent application for the improved Lego brick and building system in Copenhagen, Denmark. Today, the thousands of different shapes, sizes and colors of Legos are all designed to connect with the original brick from the Danish patent. All 2×4 Legos made since 1958 have been manufactured to the exact same measurements as the version outlined in the original patent.

Legos began in the workshop of a carpenter from Billund, Denmark. Ole Kirk Christiansen was a carpenter who made his living building houses and furniture for farmers. A fire in his workshop and the Great Depression ultimately led Christiansen to begin producing wooden toys including piggy banks, cars and trucks in 1932. The name Lego was given to the business in 1934. The word is a self-made contraction of the Danish words leg and godt which mean play well. Det beste er ikke for godt which roughly translates to mean “Not even the best is good enough” was the Lego motto. Continue reading “Fun, Stackable Bricks? The Invention of Legos” →