Rubik's Cube at 50: How world's most popular puzzle endures its appeal

Late last month (June 30), Rubik's cube turned 50. Let's take a look at its journey over the years.

Who invented Rubik's Cube?

A Hungarian professor Ernö Rubik, who taught descriptive geometry, is credited to have created the cube. Rubik taught students how to visualise three-dimensional shapes in two-dimensional images.

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How was theRubik's Cube invented?

Decades ago, in 1974, Professor Rubik was researchingPlatonic solids. A Platonic solid is a regular polyhedron in three-dimensional Euclidean space. Yes, that's too much abracadabra with no magic of its own. Unless one creates some for the understanding of yours and mine.

Also watch |Italian artist creates portrait using more than 6000 Rubik's cubes

So while researching these Platonic solids, Rubik wondered if it's possible to put together eight smaller cubes to form a big cube. Turned out it was.

But Professor Rubik wanted to not just stick them together but also move them around while exchanging their places. Fascinating, isn't it?

In his first wooden version of the cube, Professor Rubik drilled a hole in the corners of the small cubes to link them together.

Rubik reportedly cracked the design of Cube as we know it, on his 30th birthday in July 1974.

Rubik’s cube now had its faces painted in blue, red, green, yellow, orange and white. Professor Rubik solved his own puzzle for the first time months later.

How Rubik's Cube took over the world?

In 1975, Rubik gave an application at the Hungarian Patent Office for the "Magic Cube", a "three-dimensional logical toy". It went public in Hungary's toy shops in 1976. By 1979, 300,000 cubes were sold all over Hungary.

Tourists began taking these as souvenirs. The Cube eventuallyfound its way to other countries. In 1980, American company Ideal Toy won a contract to sell a million cubes worldwide.

Professor Rubik's invention took over the world in the form of Rubik's Cube championships.

By 1984, the American company Ideal had sold 100 million cubes.

But the market soon became rife with cheap imitations.

At present, Rubik's Cube is believed to be played by one in seven people across the world.

The world record for the fastest solved cube belongs to Max Park, who solved it in 3.13 seconds in 2023.