Ole Kirk Christiansen is a carpenter from Billund in Denmark. His business struggled through the Great Depression, and he began making wooden toys. Christiansen changed the name of his company „Lego,“ a contraction of the Danish words leg godt, meaning „play well.“

In 1934, Lego introduced plastic bricks to make production sets and the first sets were released for sale. The company also created an entirely new division, Dakta, that would focus on education products.

In the second half of the 20th Century, Lego expanded its product range and marketing efforts. In 1971, Lego introduced dollhouses, furniture pieces, and in 1974 first Lego human figures. They later evolved into the minifigure style that is used today. Lego began to develop more sophisticated Lego Technic sets for older children.

Lego introduced the World Cup Lego Building Contest in 1987 for children to take part. The event was held in Billund and 38 children from 17 countries took part. Lego began creating themed sets in the same year, and were seen as a system within the 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 facial features of various types and expressions.

In 1999, Lego changed important site the way it licensed characters from franchises. It began to offer Lego versions of popular characters like Spider-Man, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and numerous others. This was met with mixed reviews from fans and critics alike.