On March 24th, the Discovery Center will hold its 15th Lego Contest. Have you ever wondered how Lego got its name and who invented these precise building blocks? The credit goes to Ole Kirk Christiansen, a Danish carpenter who began making wooden toys in his Billund workshop in 1932. Two years later his company took the name “LEGO”, from the Danish phase leg godt, which means “play-well”. In 1947 his workshop started producing plastic toys on the first injection-molding machine in Denmark. Two years later, they began to produce interlocking plastic blocks whose design was a modification of the British Kiddicraft Self-Locking Bricks. But sales were poor because at the time plastic toys were regarded as inferior to wooden toys. In 1954, Ole’s son Godtfred Kirk Christiansen saw the potential of turning the interlocking bricks into a creative play system. But first the bricks had to be improved. After 5 years of testing, in 1958 the modern Lego brick was patented. Regardless of the shape, each brick is designed to fit firmly but be easily dissembled with only a tolerance of 10 micrometre between bricks allowed. In 1963, Lego bricks began to be made out of Acrylonitrile Butadine Styrene (ABS) which creates an extremely hard matt finish that is scratch and bite-resistant. This process is still used today. By 2008, there were 2,400 different shapes being produced. Lego creations have found their way all around the world and beyond. In May 2011, the Space Shuttle Endeavor brought 13 kits to the International Space Station (ISS). Astronauts built the models to see how they react in microgravity as part of an NASA educational program whose results were shared with schools around the world. To avoid bricks floating around the ISS, Astronaut Stoshi Furukawa built a box with gloves in it where he assembled the 2’ model of the ISS that you see in the photo. Best of Luck to all in building your Lego Creation. – See you on the 24th.
Monday, March 5, 2012
It's Lego Building Season Again!
On March 24th, the Discovery Center will hold its 15th Lego Contest. Have you ever wondered how Lego got its name and who invented these precise building blocks? The credit goes to Ole Kirk Christiansen, a Danish carpenter who began making wooden toys in his Billund workshop in 1932. Two years later his company took the name “LEGO”, from the Danish phase leg godt, which means “play-well”. In 1947 his workshop started producing plastic toys on the first injection-molding machine in Denmark. Two years later, they began to produce interlocking plastic blocks whose design was a modification of the British Kiddicraft Self-Locking Bricks. But sales were poor because at the time plastic toys were regarded as inferior to wooden toys. In 1954, Ole’s son Godtfred Kirk Christiansen saw the potential of turning the interlocking bricks into a creative play system. But first the bricks had to be improved. After 5 years of testing, in 1958 the modern Lego brick was patented. Regardless of the shape, each brick is designed to fit firmly but be easily dissembled with only a tolerance of 10 micrometre between bricks allowed. In 1963, Lego bricks began to be made out of Acrylonitrile Butadine Styrene (ABS) which creates an extremely hard matt finish that is scratch and bite-resistant. This process is still used today. By 2008, there were 2,400 different shapes being produced. Lego creations have found their way all around the world and beyond. In May 2011, the Space Shuttle Endeavor brought 13 kits to the International Space Station (ISS). Astronauts built the models to see how they react in microgravity as part of an NASA educational program whose results were shared with schools around the world. To avoid bricks floating around the ISS, Astronaut Stoshi Furukawa built a box with gloves in it where he assembled the 2’ model of the ISS that you see in the photo. Best of Luck to all in building your Lego Creation. – See you on the 24th.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment