LEGO^® Timeline

The history of Billund, Denmark's LEGO Group, including LEGO Bricks, LEGOLANDs, MINDSTORMS, minifigures, and more

by Mark Hughes

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From 1932 to the present, the LEGO Group has been creating toys that delight and inspire people of all ages to build whatever their imagination can dream up. LEGO toys seem timeless, best shown by the fact that a LEGO brick made in 1958 will still work perfectly with LEGO bricks made in 2009. Follow the timeline below to learn more about the history of the LEGO Group.

1930s •
1950s •
1960s •
1970s •
1980s •
1990s •
2000–present

1932	Ole Kirk Christiansen founds what becomes the LEGO Group in Billund, Denmark
1934	Christiansen combines and abbreviates two Danish words, LEG GODT ("play well"), into LEGO.
1950	Ole Kirk Christiansen steps down from LEGO Group. His son, Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, takes over.
1955	LEGO Group introduces the "LEGO System of Play" with the first "play and learn" concept. This promotes the company's goal of emphasizing learning through play.
1958	The unique interlocking LEGO Brick is launched. Bricks made in 1958 are still fully compatible with the ones being made in 2008.
1962	Godtfred Kirk Christiansen begins to experiment with using motors with LEGO elements.
1966	The LEGO train is introduced. It has its own rails, and a 4.5-volt motor.
1968	LEGOLAND Park opens in Billund, Denmark.
1969	LEGO DUPLO is launched. These blocks are created with the small hands of children in mind; each block is much bigger than its regular LEGO Block counterpart.
1974	Role play and personality are added to LEGO with the first appearance of LEGO figures.
1979	Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, Godtfred's son, becomes president and CEO of the LEGO Group. The LEGO Space series is also launched.
1986	LEGO TECHNIC Computer Control is one of the first big results of the partnership with MIT.
1994	LEGO TECHNIC Supercar is launched, much to the delight of young fans of motoring. LEGO BELVILLE also begins. This product involves families, horses, and later princesses, fairies, and butterflies.
1995	Products for children in the 0–2 age group are launched under the name LEGO PRIMO.
1996	A new LEGOLAND Park opens in Windsor, Britain.
1998	The partnership between LEGO Group and MIT produces LEGO MINDSTORMS, which enables the creation and programming of intelligent LEGO models. The FIRST LEGO League is created. FIRST stands "For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology." This is a worldwide technology tournament in which school children build their own robots using LEGO MINDSTORMS to compete against each other. LEGO Group signs an agreement with Lucasfilm Ltd. to create a series of LEGO sets based on the Star Wars movies.
1999	A new LEGOLAND Park opens in Carlsbad, California.
2001	BIONICLE, a combination of story, construction toys, and action figures is launched.
2002	A new LEGOLAND Park opens in Günzburg, Germany.
2006	LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT launches. This updated version allows for the construction and programming of robots in as little as 30 minutes. Robots now have the ability to see, hear, speak, feel, and move. FIRST LEGO League Tournament finals takes place in Atlanta, Georgia. 80 teams of children from 30 countries compete.
2008	LEGO Group launches minifigures, vehicles, and sets based on the Indiana Jones series of movies
2009	LEGO takes children's imaginations underground, into the ocean, and out of this world with new play theme assortments: Power Miners, Pirates and Space Police.
2010	LEGO adds a new dimension to Family Game Night with the introduction of ten new buildable games. In the building sets, new themes include Hero Factory, Ben 10 Alien Force, Persia Sands of Time, LEGO Atlantis, and Toy Story 3.
2011	LEGO chooses Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, as the latest eye-catching representative of its LEGO Architecture series, which celebrates the past, present and future of world architecture. Burj Khalifa, designed by Chicago architects Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, completed in 2010, towers 828 meters (2,716.5 ft) above downtown Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. It is the first model in LEGO Architecture's Landmark series to represent a building outside the United States.