It was in 1932, Ole Kirk Christiansen and his son Godtfred Kirk invented Lego. Ole Kirk was a carpenter by profession, this he started in 1916. He belonged to village Billund, Denmark and made stepladders, ironing board and wooden toys. It was in Denmark that the company was established. When the country was going through depression Ole Kirk shifted to the manufacturing of toys and this decision marked his life. He made piggy banks and animal toys for the kids. Christiansen gave his company the name “Legos” in 1932. Lego is formed from the Danish words “Leg GODt” which means “play well”. Lego started its first plastic toys in 1947 and purchased a machine in 1949 which they called Automatic Binding Bricks. The Lego toys came to the market in 1955 and were originally designed in red and white plastic. Kirk always believed in maintaining the quality of the products. His son took over as the junior managing director of the company. In 1958 the company got its patent. Now the company is looked after by the grandson of Ole Kirk.
The first set manufactured by the company that was a big success was a Town Plan, a teaching aid for teaching children traffic safety. Many more such kits were introduced for helping children learn.
Statistics say that children can find a variety of more than 3000 Lego assortments in around 75 different colors. Around the globe 400 million kids and adults have played with Lego bricks and company has manufactured 400 billion bricks approximately.
The company still continues to bring new ideas to the market.
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