Rubik’s Cube or Magic Cube – Nearly 50 years delighting generations
The Rubik’s Cube is a 3-D combination puzzle invented in 1974 by Hungarian Ernő Rubik. Rubik was a sculptor and teacher of architecture at the Academy of Applied Arts in Budapest. The teacher was looking for a way to demonstrate 3D movement to his students. One day looking at the Danube River, watching the water move around the pebbles, he was inspired by the cube’s twisting mechanism. The fact that he can do this without falling apart is part of his magic.
In an interview with “The Guardian”, he said: “I experimented in my mother’s flat, using wood, rubber bands, and paper clips to make a prototype. I needed some sort of coding to bring sense to the rotations of the cube, so I used the simplest and strongest solution: primary colors. Putting the stickers on the finished cube felt very emotional. I knew it was revolutionary. The moment I started twisting the sides, I could see it was a proper puzzle – but what I didn’t know was whether it could be solved. It took me weeks: there are 43 quintillion permutations!”
Magic Cube original history
Originally called the Magic Cube, the puzzle was licensed by Rubik to be sold by Ideal Toy Corp. Rubik’s Cube won the 1980 German Game of the Year special award for Best Puzzle. As of January 2009, 350 million cubes had been sold worldwide, making it the world’s top-selling puzzle game. It is widely considered to be the world’s best-selling toy.
On the original classic Rubik’s Cube, each of the six faces was covered by nine stickers, each of one of six solid colors: white, red, blue, orange, green, and yellow. In models as of 1988, white is opposite yellow, blue is opposite green, and orange is opposite red, and the red, white, and blue are arranged in that order in a clockwise arrangement.
An internal pivot mechanism enables each face to turn independently, thus mixing up the colors. For the puzzle to be solved, each face must be returned to have only one color.
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World Cube Association recognises world records
Although there are a significant number of possible permutations for Rubik’s Cube, a number of solutions have been developed which allow solving the cube in well under 100 moves. There are several books explaining in detail the techniques to be applied to be able to solve the cube. Some are complex and time-consuming, others simple and fast. But any technique you want to use will need to study and practice a lot.
Rubik’s Cube is still widely known and used.
Many speedcubers continue to practice they also compete for the fastest times in various categories. Since 2003, the World Cube Association, the international governing body of the Rubik’s Cube, has organized competitions worldwide and recognizes world records.
Celebrities and Rubik’s Cube
Some celebrities also fall in love with the cube and have fun showing off their skills in solving it.Will Smith and Chris Pratt are some of them. If you doubt, watch the videos.
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