The Lego Group began in the workshop of Ole Kirk Christiansen (1891–1958), a carpenter from Billund, Denmark, who began making wooden toys in 1932. In 1934, his company came to be called "Lego", derived from the Danish phrase leg godt [laɪ̯ˀ ˈkɒt], which means "play well".
There are about 2,350 different elements in the LEGO range – plus 52 different LEGO colours. Each element may be sold in a wide variety of different colours and decorations, bringing the total number of active combinations to more than 7,000.
Simple, block-shaped toys have been around for hundreds of years, but it took a 20th-century Danish genius named Ole Kirk Christiansen to invent the interlocking pieces we know today as LEGO bricks. It all started in 1932 in the village of Billund, long before LEGO had achieved world domination as a brand.