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The Tokio Express -

On February 13, 1997, the cargo ship Tokio Express was battling a huge storm off the coast of Cornwall, England, when a rogue wave pushed 62 containers into the sea. One was filled with nearly five million pieces of Lego.

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Rare cargo -

Coincidentally, many of the pieces lost at sea were sea-themed: flippers, octopuses, life jackets, spear guns, cutlasses, sharks, and scuba tanks. Other items such as miniature flowers (pictured) also met a watery end.

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The Great Lego Spill -

More than 25 years after the accident sometimes known as the Great Lego Spill, people have been finding these pieces, the beaches around Land's End proving a treasure trove for beachcombers.

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Lego Lost At Sea Project -

One of those beachcombers, a woman named Tracey Williams, established the Lego Lost At Sea project to document pieces found, some of them rare collector's items like the Lego octopus and Lego shark. She maintains a Lego Lost At Sea Facebook page and was awarded Rescue Project of the Year in the Current Archaeology Awards 2023. Her initiative perfectly illustrates the public's endearing interest in Lego. But who invented this plastic construction brick, and how did it evolve to become one of the most famous toys in the world?

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The Lego Company -

The Lego story begins with Ole Kirk Christiansen, a carpenter from Billund, Denmark, who manufactured wooden toys. In 1932, inspired by the Kiddicraft Self-Locking Building Brick invented by English toymaker Hilary Page, Christiansen founded Lego. Following his death in 1958, the company's management was handed over to his son, Godtfred (pictured).

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Lego brick patent -

Godtfred Kirk Christiansen was the managing director of The Lego Group from 1957 to 1973. He's credited with playing a pivotal role in the development of the Lego brick design, and patented it in 1958. The US Patent (pictured) was filed in 1961.

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The Town Plan -

An early innovation was the Town Plan, a set consisting of a piece of plastic cloth on which was printed a stylized design of streets over which Lego buildings could be constructed and placed—a kind of urban adventure for kids.

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On the right track -

In the 1960s, the company introduced the Lego train, a product range that incorporated buildable train sets.

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Lego wheel -

As the decade progressed, Lego introduced various more nuanced pieces for specific construction ideas. These included the Lego wheel, a component that opened up a whole new world of potential product design.

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Lego City -

Lego cities began springing up in toy shops and department stores, impressive urban layouts where children could play and build at the same time. The example pictured here is in Selfridges in London.

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Lego's core characteristics -

As Lego boss, Godtfred Kirk Christiansen was very much hands-on in the day-to-day running of the company, even laying out 10 core characteristics the toy should always adhere to, the first five being: unlimited play possibilities; for girls, for boys; enthusiasm for all ages; play all year round; stimulating and harmonious play.

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Playing by the rules -

Endless hours of play;  imagination; creativity; development; multiplied play value (more Lego); always topical; and safety and quality are the other five core attributes.

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Lego Duplo -

In keeping with this playtime philosophy Lego introduced the Duplo, a much larger brick designed for young children but still interchangeable with standard Lego bricks.

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Legoland Billund -

On June 7, 1968, Legoland Billund—the original Legoland park—opened. It's the largest tourist attraction in Denmark outside Copenhagen.

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Lego Minifigure -

The 1970s saw Lego build on its reputation as one of the world's most popular toy companies. In 1974, the first Lego human figures appeared. This product line eventually evolved into the Lego Minifigure design.

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Dedicated themes -

Lego's imagination flourished in the 1980s. The company introduced products designed around dedicated themes, toy sets that included Lego Space and Lego Castle and, for a younger audience, Lego Fabuland. Pictured is Lego Fabuland's Perry Panda.

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Lego pirates -

Popular among kids in the late 1980s was the Lego Pirates set, Minifigures replete with eye patches, beards, and even crooked teeth.

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World's first Lego store opens -

The first Lego store in the world opened in 1992 at the Mall of America, in Bloomington, Minnesota, to great applause. Made up of hundreds and thousands of Lego bricks, the store is the largest of its kind in the United States and features a building area for older kids and a special area stocked with Duplos for toddlers.

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Inspired by cinema -

The appearance in 1999 of 'Star Wars' and 'Harry Potter' Lego sets marked the company's first foray into producing licensed intellectual property, with the 'Star Wars' franchise especially boosting sales.

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New themes -

The release of new themes including Lego Vikings and Lego Architecture (pictured) helped the company consolidate its position as one of the world's leading toy manufacturers.

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Television and gaming -

But it was the breaking into video games and televisions series that set Lego on a new and highly lucrative path at the onset of the new millennium.

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Lego Ninjago -

One of Lego's most successful products is Ninjago. Launched in 2011, Ninjago, which was accompanied by video games and a television series, remains one of the company's most popular flagship themes.

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'The Lego Movie' (2014) -

In 2014, the Lego Group and Warner Brothers released 'The Lego Movie.' Voiced by several Hollywood A-listers including Chris Pratt (pictured), Elizabeth Banks, Liam Neeson, and Morgan Freeman, the picture received wide acclaim and almost unanimously positive reviews.

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'The Lego Batman Movie' (2017) -

Three years later, the Lego Group and Warner Brothers released 'The Lego Batman Movie.' Described by one critic as "dizzyingly funny—and beautifully animated—family-friendly mayhem," the film realized a worldwide gross of US$312 million, against a production budget of $80 million.

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Further innovations -

A Bugatti Chiron made of Lego bricks was unveiled at the 2018 Paris International Motor Show. It was created to publicize the launch of Lego's exclusive 1:8 scale replica model car kit comprising 3,600 pieces full of intricate details and engineering touches.

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First Lego prosthetic limb -

In 2017, 22-year-old Andorran university student David Aguilar earned a Guinness World Record for creating a self-built prosthetic arm made entirely from Lego. David suffers from Poland syndrome, a congenital disease that can cause abnormalities and underdeveloped muscles in limbs. He was born without a fully developed right forearm. Incredibly, he made his first prototype prothesis using Lego when we was just nine years old.

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Lego braille bricks -

The launch in 2021 of Lego braille bricks enabled blind and vision impaired children to play Lego products in a more constructive and integrated manner. The bricks have raised bumps that have been modified to correspond to a letter or character of the braille alphabet. Each brick also has a printed letter or character to allow children who are blind or have low vision to learn and play alongside sighted classmates, family, and educators.

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National Brick Events -

National Brick Events bring together Lego fans from across the world to participate in a series of workshops and activities and to browse stalls selling rare and long retired Lego sets. Creations by some of the world's best Lego builders are on display, including exhibitions dedicated to minifigures.

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'Lego Masters' -

'Lego Masters' is an international reality television show in which teams compete to build the best Lego project. Screened since 2017 and based on the original British show of that name, which ran from 2017–2018, many other countries adapted the format and began airing their own versions.

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Legoland territory -

There are currently 10 Legoland theme parks located around the world: Billund, California, Florida, New York, Malaysia, Dubai, Windsor (London), Germany, Japan, and Korea (pictured).

Sources: (Lego) (TheCollector) (Marine Conservation Society) (BBC) (National Brick Events)

See also: The surprising origins of these classic toys

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