Lego is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Lego brick today. According to a statement from Lego the idea for the bricks originated with Ole Kirk Christansen in 1932 but the very first brick wasn't created until 1958. Today's Lego bricks still fit bricks built in 1958.The LEGO history began in 1932 in Denmark, when Ole Kirk Christansen founded a small factory for wooden toys in the unknown town of Billund in the south of the country. To find a name for his company he organized a competition among his employees. As fate would have it however, he himself came up with the best name: LEGO - a fusion of the Danish words "LEg" and "GOdt" ("play well").A Time article says Lego has made "400 billion Lego elements, or 62 bricks for every person on the planet" since January 28th, 1958. That's a ton of Lego bricks. Lego has managed to keep Lego bricks a hot toy through partnerships with other brands. One of the most successful partnerships was the 2006 partnership with Lucasfilm to create the Lego Star Wars line. Amazon.com's Toy section has a special page that lists some of the bestselling Lego Star Wars toys. Lego used the popularity of Star Wars legos to expand into gaming. Therehave been several Lego Star Wars video games and there will soon be a Lego Batman game.
Barely 15 years later Christiansen discovered plastic as the ideal material for toy production, and bought the first injection moulding machine in Denmark. His courage, input and investment paid off: in 1949 he developed the LEGO brick prototype, which continues to excite countless children and adults to this very day. Over the years he perfected the brick, which is still the basis of the entire LEGO game and building system today. Of course there have been small adjustments in shape, colour and design from time to time, but today's LEGO bricks still fit bricks from 1958.
Production of LEGO bricks with Acrylonitrile Butadine Styrene (ABS) began in 1963. This matt finish plastic is extremely hard, has a scratch and bite-resistant surface, and is ideal for keeping the bricks connected. LEGO labs regularly monitor the high quality of the ABS for the bricks.
Lego has added new products to its store to celebrate the 50th anniversary. Some of these new products include The Bikini Bottom Express, Technic Cherry Picker and Exo-Force Hybrid Rescue Tank.
Gizmodo has put together an interesting 50-year timeline of Lego products that shows the company's innovation and new product lines.
Crave says Lego is also celebrating the anniversary with a worldwide competition to find the most talented kid Lego builders. The finalists will compete at Lego headquarters in Denmark for the world title.
The Lego company plans to celebrate the anniversary with, among other things, a worldwide contest to discover the best kid Lego builder. Each country will have its own national champion, Lego promises, and these lucky kids will get the right to come to headquarters in Denmark to fight it out for the world title.
Google is also helping Lego celebrate with a special Google Lego logo. A post on Search Engine Land provides some links to Google Lego logos that other people have made. Posted in Toys
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