LEGO began in 1932 in the carpentry workshop of Ole Kirk Christiansen, a Danish carpenter. He initially produced furniture, but later started making wooden toys. Interestingly enough, in 1934 Christiansen held a contest among his staff to name the company, offering a bottle of homemade wine as a prize. Christiansen was considering two names himself. "Legio" (with the implication of a 'Legion of toys') and "Lego". It was later discovered that "Lego" could be loosely interpreted as "I put together" or "I assemble" in Latin. Christiansen selected "LEGO" and the company began using this name on its products.
During the Great Depression, Christiansen began producing minature versions of his products as design ads, which eventually led him to produce toys. Depsite the economic downturn, Christiansen's shop started making wooden toys such as piggy banks, pull toys, cars and trucks and houses.
In 1947, after World War II, when injection moulding was introduced to Denmark, Christiansen bought an injection moulding machine for the company to make toys. That same year, Christiansen and his son obtained samples of plastic, interlocking blocks which inspired the later LEGO bricks created in 1949. The LEGO brick, in its present form, was launched in 1958. The interlocking principle of its tubes make it unique and offers unlimited building possibilities.
In the 1950s, the LEGO Group made its first move into foreign markets, focusing on the Nordic countries. In 1955, the LEGO Group began in Sweden, followed by Iceland. In 1961, the LEGO Group wanted to expand sales to North America, but did not have the logistics to do so. They made an arrangement, allowing Samsonite to begin producing and selling LEGO products in the United States and Canada.
Sales declined from 1992-2004 when LEGO retired many LEGO designers who had created the sets from the late 1970s to the mid 1990s, replacing them with 30 inovators who graduated from design colleges around Europe who knew "little specifically about toy design and less about "LEGO building".
Sales have increased from 2005 as the company focused on its core products and reintroduced the Duplo label and in the U.S. alone, sales increased 32% because of Star Wars and Indiana Jones-themed games.
Eventually, LEGO released a number of large sets; a replica of the Colosseum in Rome (9,036 pieces), Titanic model (9,090 pieces) and the Eiffel Tower (10,001) pieces.
Over the decades, the Lego system continued to be modified, with new molds and colors being added and removed. Despite its expansion, the company remains privately held.
At the posted coordinates, you will find your very own LEGO project with a diagram of what you are building. Complete the build to get the coordinates for the final. Please take care as to not lose any pieces.
