Coordinates | 10°57′50″N74°47′47″N |
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Name | LEGO |
Type | Construction set |
Inventor | Ole Kirk Christiansen |
Country | Denmark |
Company | Lego Group |
From | 1949 |
To | present |
Website | http://www.lego.com/ }} |
Lego (trademarked in capitals as LEGO) is a line of construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of colorful interlocking plastic bricks and an accompanying array of gears, minifigures and various other parts. Lego bricks can be assembled and connected in many ways, to construct such objects as vehicles, buildings, and even working robots. Anything constructed can then be taken apart again, and the pieces used to make other objects. The toys were originally designed in the 1940s in Denmark and have achieved an international appeal, with an extensive subculture that supports Lego movies, games, video games, competitions, and four Lego themed amusement parks.
The Lego Group began in the workshop of Ole Kirk Christiansen (7 April 1891 – 11 March 1958), a carpenter from Billund, Denmark, who began making wooden toys in 1932. In 1934, his company came to be called "Lego", from the Danish phrase ''leg godt'', which means "play-well".
It expanded to producing plastic toys in 1947. In 1949 Lego began producing the now famous interlocking bricks, calling them "Automatic Binding Bricks". These bricks were based largely on the patent of Kiddicraft Self-Locking Bricks, which were released in the United Kingdom in 1947. Lego modified the design of the Kiddicraft brick after examining a sample given to it by the British supplier of an injection-molding machine that the company had purchased. The bricks, originally manufactured from cellulose acetate, were a development of traditional stackable wooden blocks that locked together by means of several round studs on top and a hollow rectangular bottom. The blocks snapped together, but not so tightly that they required extraordinary effort to be separated.
The Lego Group's motto is ''det bedste er ikke for godt'' which means roughly 'only the best is good enough' (more literally 'the best is never too good'). This motto was created by Ole Kirk to encourage his employees never to skimp on quality, a value he believed in strongly. The motto is still used within the company today. The use of plastic for toy manufacture was not highly regarded by retailers and consumers of the time. Many of the Lego Group's shipments were returned after poor sales; it was thought that plastic toys could never replace wooden ones.
By 1954, Christiansen's son Godtfred Kirk Christiansen had become the junior managing director of the Lego Group. It was his conversation with an overseas buyer that struck the idea of a toy system. Godtfred saw the immense potential in Lego bricks to become a system for creative play but the bricks still had some problems from a technical standpoint: their locking ability was limited and they were not very versatile. In 1958, the modern brick design was developed but it took another five years to find the right material for it (acrylonitrile-butadene-styrene polymer). The modern Lego brick was patented at 1:58 p.m on January 28, 1958; bricks from that year are still compatible with current bricks.
Each Lego piece must be manufactured to an exacting degree of precision. When two pieces are engaged they must fit firmly, yet be easily disassembled. The machines that make Lego bricks have tolerances as small as 10 micrometre.
Primary concept and development work takes place at the Billund headquarters, where the company employs approximately 120 designers. The company also has smaller design offices in the UK, Spain, Germany, and Japan, which are tasked with developing products aimed specifically at these markets. The average development period for a new product is around twelve months, in three stages. The first stage is to identify market trends and developments, including contact by the designers directly with the market; some are stationed in toy shops close to holiday periods, while others interview children. The second stage is the design and development of the product based upon the results of the first stage. As of September 2008 the design teams use 3D modeling software to generate CAD drawings from initial design sketches. The designs are then prototyped using an in-house stereolithography machine. These are presented to the entire project team for comment and for testing by parents and children during the "validation" process. Designs may then be altered in accordance with the results from the focus groups. Virtual models of completed Lego products are built concurrently with the writing of the user instructions. Completed CAD models are also used in the wider organization, such as for marketing and packaging.
Manufacturing of Lego bricks occurs at a number of locations around the world. Molding is done in Billund, Denmark, Nyíregyháza, Hungary and Monterrey, Mexico. Brick decorations and packaging is done at plants in Denmark, Hungary, Mexico and Kladno in the Czech Republic. The Lego Group estimates that in the course of five decades it has produced some 400 billion Lego blocks. Annual production of Lego bricks averages approximately 36 billion per year, or about 1140 elements per second. If all the Lego bricks ever produced were to be divided equally among a world population of six billion, each person would have 62 Lego bricks. According to an article in ''BusinessWeek'' in 2006, Lego could be considered the world's No. 1 tire manufacturer; the factory produces about 306 million tiny rubber tires a year.
Since it began producing plastic bricks, the Lego Group has released thousands of sets with a variety of themes, including town and city, space, robots, pirates, trains, Vikings, castle, dinosaurs, undersea exploration, and wild west.
New elements are often released along with new sets. There are also Lego sets designed to appeal to young girls such as the Belville and Clikits lines which consists of small interlocking parts that are meant to encourage creativity and arts and crafts, much like regular Lego bricks. Belville and Clikit pieces can interlock with regular Lego bricks as decorative elements.
While there are sets which can be seen to have a military theme – such as ''Star Wars'', the German and Russian soldiers in the ''Indiana Jones'' sets, the ''Toy Story'' green soldiers and Lego Castle – there are no directly military-themed sets in any line. This is following Ole Kirk Christiansen's policy of not wanting to make war seem like child's play.
The Lego range has expanded to encompass accessory motors, gears, lights, sensors, and cameras designed to be used with Lego components. Motors, battery packs, lights and switches are sold under the name ''Power Functions''. The ''Technic'' line utilizes newer types of interlocking connections that are still compatible with the older brick type connections. The ''Technic'' line can often be motorized with ''Power Functions''.
Bionicle is a line of toys by the Lego Group that is marketed towards those in the 7–16 year-old age range. The line was launched in January 2001 in Europe and June/July 2001 in the United States. The Bionicle idea originated from the earlier toy lines Slizers (also known as Throwbots) and Roboriders. Both of these lines had similar throwing disks and characters based on classical elements. The sets in the Bionicle line have increased in size and flexibility through the years. Bionicle was replaced with Hero Factory in 2010.
The Lego group's Duplo product line, introduced in 1969, is a range of simple blocks which measure twice the width, height and depth of standard Lego blocks, and are aimed at younger children.
'Fabuland' ran from 1979 to 1989. The more advanced 'Lego Technic' was launched in 1977. 'Lego Primo' is a line of blocks by the Lego Group for very young children that ran between 2004 and 2006. In 1995 'Lego Baby' was launched for babies.
One of the largest Lego sets ever commercially produced is a minifig-scaled edition of the Star Wars Millennium Falcon. Designed by Jens Kronvold Fredericksen, it was released in 2007 and has 5,195 pieces. It was surpassed, though, by a 5,922 piece Taj Mahal.
In May 2011, Space Shuttle Endeavour mission STS-134 brought 13 Lego kits to the International Space Station, where astronauts will build models and see how they react in microgravity, as part of the Lego Bricks in Space program. The results will be shared with schools as part of an educational project.
Although some of the licensed themes, such as Lego Star Wars and Lego Indiana Jones, have had highly successful sales, Lego has expressed a desire to rely more upon their own characters and classic themes, and less upon licensed themes related to movie releases.
The programmable Lego brick which is at the heart of these robotics sets has undergone several updates and redesigned, with the latest being called the 'NXT' brick, being sold under the brand name of Lego Mindstorms NXT 2.0. The set includes sensors that detect touch, light, sound and ultrasonic waves, with several others being sold separately, including an RFID reader.
The intelligent brick can be programmed using official software available for Windows and Mac computers, and is downloaded onto the brick via Bluetooth or a USB cable. There are also several unofficial programs and compatible programming languages that have been made to work with the brick, and many books have been written to support this community.
There are several robotics competitions which use the Lego robotics sets. The earliest, and likely the largest, is Botball, a national U.S. middle- and high-school competition stemming from the MIT 6.270 Lego robotics tournament. A related competition is FIRST Lego League for elementary and middle schools. The international RoboCup Junior football competition involves extensive use of Lego Mindstorms equipment which is often pushed to its extreme limits.
Lego Digital Designer is an official piece of Lego software for Mac OS X and Windows which allows users to build with Lego bricks on their computers. Users can then publish their creations online on the Lego Design by Me website, or purchase the physical bricks to build them. Lego Digital Designer includes some Lego products which only exist online, including models for the children's television programs ''TUGS'', ''Thomas and Friends'' and ''Speed Racer''.
''My Lego Network'' is a social networking site that involves items, blueprints, ranks, badges which are earned for completing certain tasks, trading and trophies called masterpieces which allow users to progress to go to the next rank. The website has a built in inbox which allows users to send prewritten messages to one another. The Lego Network includes automated non-player characters within called "Networkers", who are able to do things which normal users cannot do, such as sending custom messages, and selling masterpieces and blueprints. The site also has modules which are set up on the user's page to 'grow' certain things, for showing picture compositions or both. The site includes instructions booklets for all Lego sets dating back to 2002.
Since around 2000, the Lego Group has been promoting 'Lego Serious Play', a form of business consultancy fostering creative thinking, in which team members build metaphors of their organizational identities and experiences using Lego bricks. Participants work through imaginary scenarios using visual three-dimensional Lego constructions, imaginatively exploring possibilities in a serious form of play.
Merlin Entertainments operates four Legoland amusement parks, the original in Billund, Denmark, the second in Windsor, England, the third in Günzburg, Germany, the fourth in Carlsbad, California, and the fifth is due to open in Florida. On 13 July 2005, the control of 70% of the Legoland parks was sold for $460 million to the Blackstone Group of New York while the remaining 30% is still held by Lego Group. There are also four Legoland Discovery Centers, two in Germany (Duisburg and Berlin), one in Chicago, Illinois, and one in Manchester, UK. Two new Legoland Discovery Centers are scheduled to open in 2011: one in Dallas, Texas, and the other in Winter Haven, Florida. Another will open in Kansas City in 2012.
Three of the recently opened Lego stores incorporate a new idea for the Lego retail side called Lego education. At these three stores (which are located in Concord North Carolina, Hanover Maryland, and Berlin Germany) there are separate areas to the side of the store that are used as classrooms where specially trained facilitators teach children ranging from 4–12 years old about numerous different subjects while using Lego product. This new concept is being tested, and has only been around for about 8 months.
It was announced on 12 August 2009, that a live action feature film was in development. The film is said to be an action/adventure-comedy that will combine both live action and animation, and feature Nathan Kress and Richard Donner, Lauren Shuler Donner, Lucy Fisher, Douglas Wick, Joel Silver as the portrayal of the Lego owner. The film will be made at The Donners' Company, Walden Media, Red Wagon Entertainment, Silver Pictures and Warner Bros. with Dan Lin producing. No release date has been set as of June 2010.
Although no longer being published in the United States by Scholastic, books covering events in the BIONICLE storyline are written by Greg Farshtey. They are still being published in Europe by AMEET. BIONICLE comics, also written by Farshtey, are compiled into graphic novels and were released by Papercutz. This series ended in 2009, after nine years. There is also the Lego Club and Brickmaster magazine.
Category:1949 introductions Category:Construction toys Category:Danish brands Category:Danish design Category:Toy train manufacturers Category:Toy companies of Denmark Category:National Toy Hall of Fame inductees
ar:ليغو (لعبة) zh-min-nan:LEGO bs:Lego bg:Лего ca:Lego cs:Lego da:LEGO de:Lego es:LEGO eo:Lego (ludilo) fa:لگو fr:Lego gl:LEGO ko:레고 hr:Lego id:Lego it:LEGO he:לגו ka:ლეგო la:Lego lv:Lego lb:Lego hu:Lego ms:Lego nl:LEGO ja:レゴ no:LEGO nn:LEGO pl:LEGO pt:Lego ro:Grupul Lego ru:LEGO simple:Lego sk:Lego sl:Legokocke sr:Лего fi:Lego sv:Lego ta:லெகோ th:เลโก้ tr:Lego uk:LEGO zh-yue:樂高 zh:乐高积木This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
Coordinates | 10°57′50″N74°47′47″N |
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name | Ed Sheeran |
background | solo_singer |
birth name | Edward Sheeran |
birth date | February 17, 1991 |
origin | Suffolk, UK |
instrument | Vocals, guitar loop pedals |
genre | Folk rock, acoustic, hip-hop, grime |
occupation | Singer, songwriter |
years active | 2005–present |
label | Asylum / Atlantic Records (2011–present) |
associated acts | James Morrison, Jason Mraz Example, Just Jack, Nizlopi, Elro, Devlin, Wiley, Ella Marcham, Ghetts, P Money, Mikill Pane, Wretch 32, Sway DaSafo, Lewis Watson, Griminal, Jamie Woon, Yasmin |
website | |
notable instruments | }} |
Edward "Ed" Sheeran (born 17 February 1991) is an English singer/songwriter who is currently signed to Asylum / Atlantic Records. Sheeran broke through commercially in June 2011, when his debut single "The A Team" debuted at number 3 on the UK chart.
In 2009, Sheeran played 312 gigs. He said that he read an interview with James Morrison that said that Morrison had done 200 gigs in a year, and Sheeran wanted to beat him on this number.Also in 2009, he released another EP, ''You Need E's'', just before going on tour with Just Jack. In February 2010 Sheeran posted a video through SB.TV, which led to mainstream rapper Example asking Sheeran to tour with him. Also in February 2010 he released his second independent release, his critically acclaimed ''Loose Change'' EP, which featured one of his most popular songs "The A Team". A video was made for the song, and cost only £20 to make. This was also his debut single once he was signed.
In April 2010, after leaving his old management company, Sheeran bought a ticket to Los Angeles, with no contacts other than one poetry night. He played open mic nights all over the city, before being spotted at 'The Foxxhole' by Jamie Foxx, who invited him to stay at his house and record for the rest of his stay. Throughout 2010, Sheeran began to be seen by more people over the internet through YouTube and his fan-base grew, with him also getting credit from ''The Independent'' newspaper, England football captain Rio Ferdinand and Elton John. Sheeran released three more EPs in 2010, including ''Ed Sheeran: Live at the Bedford'' and ''Songs I Wrote With Amy'' which is a collection of love songs he wrote in Wales with fellow singer songwriter Amy Wadge.
On 26 April, Sheeran appeared on the TV music show ''Later... with Jools Holland'' – where he performed the song "The A Team". Six weeks later "The A Team" was released as a digital download in the United Kingdom. The release served as the lead single from Sheeran's upcoming debut studio album, entitled ''+'' – which is due for release through Atlantic Records on 12 September 2011. "The A Team" entered the UK chart at number 3, selling over 58,000 copies in the first week. It was congratulated on being the highest-selling and highest-charting debut single of 2011.
During a headline set in the BBC Introducing tent at Glastonbury Festival 2011, Sheeran announced that "You Need Me" would be released on 28 August as the second single from the album.
Sheeran will also be performing at the Festival Republic Stage during the Reading festival, and will perform on the main stage of the 2011 Jersey Live festival.
Year | Title | Album | Artist |
2011 | "Hush Little Baby" | ''Black and White'' | Wretch 32 |
Category:1991 births Category:Living people Category:British singer-songwriters
de:Ed Sheeran ru:Ширан, ЭдThis text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
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