Background
He was the 10th son of an impoverished family in Jutland in western Denmark.
He was the 10th son of an impoverished family in Jutland in western Denmark.
Born in Filskov, Denmark, he trained as a carpenter and started making wooden toys in 1932 to make a living after having lost his job during the depression. In 1942 a fire broke out at the factory forcing them to rebuild. Initially, he made miniature versions of the houses and furniture as he worked on as a carpenter, but in 1947 moved to using plastics, which were originally small plastic bears and rattles.
By 1949 he had produced over 200 plastic and wooden toys.
Ole Kirk Christiansen came up with the name Lego from the Danish words leg godt, meaning "play well", and the company grew to become the Lego Group.