Block Head Extraordinaire

If you’re a parent or a former child, Ole Kirk Christiansen, a Danish furniture maker, has had a role in your life - and, no, it has not to do with IKEA or Allen wrenches. Ole invented Legos on this day in 1932 and named the company with a contraction of the Danish phrase leg Godt, meaning "play well" because he was a huge fan of the hortatory subjunctive and was forever telling people what to do. Christiansen maintained his business through the Depression and the Nazi occupation of Denmark and, in 1942, experienced another setback when a short circuit created an electrical fire and the loss of his factory, his entire stock and blueprints. Ole started again out of duty to his workers and, in 1944, the new factory incorporated a plastic molding machine and an assembly line. By 1949, the business was producing a plastic product called the Automatic Binding Brick, an incredibly creative marketing decision. It’s been smooth colorful block building ever after.