history: LEGO group timeline 20th century 1910s-1950s

for anyone curious about what LEGO has done for about 117 years.here is the time line. taken from wikipedia.

20th century

1910s

1916: Ole Kirk Christiansen purchases the small woodworking shop in Billund.

1920s

1920: July 6 - Godtfred Kirk Christiansen was born.

1924: Ole Kirk's shop burns down when a fire ignites some wood shavings. Ole Kirk builds a larger workshop, renting out most of the space, and using the rest for his own shop.

1930s

1932: Ole Kirk Christiansen's shop nearly goes bankrupt in the depression. With a lack of normal carpentry jobs, Ole Kirk starts producing toys, many of which were wooden pull toys.

1934: The company name Lego is coined by Christiansen from the Danish phrase leg godt, meaning "play well". Coincidentally, "Lego" also means "I assemble" in Latin.

1935: The Lego Duck is featured.

1937: Godtfred Kirk Christiansen starts creating models.

1939: The company grows to 10 employees.

1940s

1942: A fire breaks out in the factory, forcing the company to rebuild.

1943: The company grows to 40 employees.

1947: Ole Kirk purchases the first plastic moulding machine in Denmark, and the company begins manufacturing plastic toys. The Christiansens are inspired by samples of the "Kiddicraft Self-Locking Building Brick", a design patented by the Briton Mr. Harry Fisher Page.

1947: December 27 - Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen is born.1948: The company grows to 50 employees.

1949: Lego begins producing similar plastic bricks, calling them "Automatic Binding Bricks."1950s

1951: The first ever film about Lego is shot. The photographer is Chistian Lund, and the film is black and white with no sound.

1953:Automatic Binding Bricks are renamed Lego Mursten, or "Lego Bricks."First baseplates are created.

1954:Godtfred Kirk Christiansen becomes junior managing director of Lego, and soon has the idea to turn Lego bricks into a toy system.Lego windows and doors are introduced.The word Lego is officially registered in Denmark.First beam bricks are released.

1955:Lego releases its first toy "system" of the Town Plan.Lego bricks begin selling better, but are not yet the core Lego product.Lego first exports toys to Sweden.Godtfred Kirk Christiansen demonstrates the Lego bricks at a toy fair in Nuremberg, Germany.First Lego trees are released.

1956: A sales company for Lego is built in Hohenwestedt, Germany.

1957:Godtfred Kirk Christiansen is appointed Managing Director.First Lego flags, lights, and windows.

1958:The Lego brick design is improved to allow better versatility and "locking" ability.Ole Kirk Christiansen dies; Godtfred inherits leadership of the Lego Company.The Lego company patents the stud-and-tube coupling system. This new system makes models much more stable. Sloping roof tile bricks are featured.The company in Billund grows to 140 employees.

1959:A small staff at Lego, the "Futura" division, is established to develop ideas for new sets.Lego begins selling its products in other countries such as Norway, Germany, Switzerland, and the UK.Lego France, British Lego Ltd., Lego Belgium and Lego Sweden are established.