Educational toy made in plastic versions. In the mid-1950s, more explicitly engineering-themed construction toys appeared, including plastic girders, columns, and panels that could be assembled into a model curtain wall skyscraper. Later, this Girder and Panel structural system was extended to a Hydro-Dynamic setup by adding pipes, valves, tanks, nozzles, and pumps to allow construction of model plumbing, HVAC, and chemical engineering systems like a simulated distillation column. Other extensions of the system supported suburban-style housing developments (Build-A-Home), or monorail transportation systems (Skyrail). The building toy Lego was originally developed by Ole Kirk Christiansen in Billund, Denmark, in the 1930s. The name
History of Lego profits had declined since 1992, and in 1998 it posted its first ever loss, at £23 million. In the same year the company laid off 1,000 employees. In 1999, the first Lego products featuring licensed characters, i.e. not designed in-house, were Lego Star Wars and Winnie the Pooh Duplo, followed in 2000 by Lego Harry Potter characters to figures from other Steven Spielberg movies. Soren Holm, the head of Lego Concept Lab said toy weapons had always been heavily debated, but that since the Lego Star Wars release Lego has grown "more comfortable with conflict". Mr Laursen, executive North American