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Today in History: 50 Years of Lego
It was 50 years ago today, January 28, 1958 (at 1:58 PM) that the modern Lego brick was patented, and kids young and old have been happily playing with colored plastic bricks ever since. Gizmodo has a Lego timeline and for more on the history of the Lego brick you can visit “50th Birthday of the LEGO Brick” from LEGO.com.
As the Lego 50th anniversary site explains:
About the LEGO Group
The LEGO Group with its headquarters in Billund, Denmark, is the fifth largest toy manufacturer in the world in terms of sales. Besides traditional LEGO bricks, its portfolio comprises 25 additional product lines sold in more than 130 countries. Worldwide, the LEGO Group today has 4,500 employees. The name of the company, founded in 1932, is made up of the two Danish words “leg” and “godt”, meaning “play well”.
You can also find more at Wikipedia’s Lego page.
Looking through the “50th Birthday of the LEGO Brick”, some of the facts include:
The bricks start out as granules that are melted at 232° C before being molded in injection moulding machines.
Lego bricks are made in Denmark, the Czech Republic, and Mexico.
There are 2,400 different Lego brick shapes.
Unsold sets are melted down and reused.
Lego has 4,500 employees worldwide.
There are 25 different product lines sold in 130 countries.
On another part of the “50th Birthday of the LEGO Brick”, Lego explains that:
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.
I think my favorite part is that they acknowledge that their bricks need to be “bite-resistant.”
Update: In honor of Lego’s 50th you can check out Boing Boing’s BBtv and watch Boing Boing Gadgets editor Joel Johnson build the “Ultimate Collectors Millennium Falcon” Lego set: BBtv Vlog: 50 Years of LEGO / Ultimate Collector's Millennium Falcon Time-Lapse Video.
— michael | January 28, 2008 01:58 PM | I found it online
