The Lego company was created by Ole Kirk Christiansen, a carpenter from Billund, Denmark. His business struggled through the Great Depression, and he began to create wooden toys. Christiansen changed the name of the company “Lego,” which is a contraction of leg godt (which is “play well” in Danish).
In 1934, Lego introduced plastic bricks for production, and the first sets were sold. The company also started an entirely new division named Dakta which would concentrate on educational products.
In the latter half of the 20th century, Lego continued to expand its product range and marketing efforts. In 1971 Lego introduced furniture and dollhouses, and in 1974 the first Lego human figures were released. These later developed into the minifigure address design that is still used to this day. Lego also began to develop more advanced sets for building geared towards older children. These would later evolve into Lego Technic.
Lego introduced the World Cup Lego Building Contest in 1987 to allow youngsters to take part. The event took place in Billund and 38 children from 17 countries participated. Lego began to create themes in the same year, and were seen as components of a system. They included Lego Space, Lego Castle and Lego Town (later renamed Lego City) as well as Lego FabuLand. In 1988, Lego released a new line of pirate Legos, which featured several facial features and expressions.
In 1999, Lego shifted the way it licensed its characters from franchises. It began to offer Lego versions of characters such as Spider-Man and Star Wars. Harry Potter, Avatar: The Last Airbender and many more. This move was met with mixed responses from fans and critics alike.