LEGO
It's from 1958, before you were born.
- Maker
- The LEGO Group (Denmark)
- Type
- Construction bricks
- Debuted
- 1958
- Note
- The interlocking brick was patented in 1958
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About
As of 2026, it's 68 years old.
The LEGO brick as we know it — with the clutch-power studs-and-tubes design that lets a 1958 brick still snap onto one made today — was patented on January 28, 1958. The Danish company had been making toys since the 1930s (the name is from 'leg godt,' Danish for 'play well'), but the humble plastic brick is what conquered the planet.
LEGO has since become the largest toy company in the world, survived a near-bankruptcy in the early 2000s, and turned itself into a movie studio, a video-game empire, and the cause of more late-night parental foot injuries than any object ever manufactured. Stepping on a LEGO remains one of childhood's great betrayals.
Endlessly creative, weirdly durable, and genuinely beloved, LEGO is the toy that's really an idea — that a pile of little bricks can be anything you can imagine.
LEGO through the years
The modern brick is patented
The studs-and-tubes design that makes every era of brick compatible.
Minifigures arrive
The little yellow people give LEGO sets characters and stories.
The LEGO Movie
A toy commercial becomes a critically loved film. Everything is awesome.
