5 Interesting Things About the Rubik's Cube

You're a child of the 80s if you are familiar with Atari and the board games being introduced during that decade. How about card games like Tri Peaks? Then there's the Rubik's Cube.

The classic model of Rubik's Cube consists of six different sides of a block of six different colors, namely red, blue, green, yellow, orange, and white. To play the game, one must turn the cube, keep on turning it until each side is of different hues. To win the game, one must turn it once more, doing so until there's one color on one side and so on. The cube has many advantages over the other toys, one of which is you can carry it around. Another one is the game can be intellectually stimulating. It can be addictive, but no need to worry. You don't need to sit for hours (to play it).

There's more to this toy, which is still popular. Here are five interesting things:

1. Ernő Rubik, a professor of architecture at the Budapest College of Applied Arts, is credited with the invention of the Rubik's cube. He completed the first prototype in 1974, looking for a good task for his students.

"Space always intrigued me, with its incredibly rich possibilities, space alteration by (architectural) objects, objects' transformation in space (sculpture, design), movement in space and in time, their correlation, their repercussion on mankind, the relation between man and space, the object and time. I think the cube arose from this interest, from this search for expression and for this always more increased acuteness of these thoughts," he said.

2. The first test batches were produced during the final quarter of 1977. After making it to Budapest's toy shops, a deal was signed, leading to the toy's appearance in toy fairs in Paris, Nuremberg, NewYork, and London during the first quarter of 1980.

3. Rubik's Cube can be relevant in academic matters, such as the mathematical group theory. It's no surprise, as Rubik didn't intent to create a toy at first.

4. There are worldwide competitions on solving the cube on the shortest time possible. The first world championship was held in Budapest on June 5, 1982, won by Min Thai, a Vietnamese student. The Guinness Book of World Records organized its own Speedcubing competition, which was to determine the contestant with the fastest time in speedsolving. Jury Froeschl, a native of Munich, set the record at 38 seconds.

5. The cube attained its height of popularity during the late 80s. It is still popular, as new models are introduced in succession during the last two decades. Aside from the standard 3x3x3 cube, there's the Pocket/Mini (2x2x2), Master Cube (4x4x4), Professor's Cube (5x5x5), and V-Cube 6 (6x6x6). Even a software version is available, keeping up with the advancement in technology. The toy have come a long way. If the recent models are of any indication, then there'll be a renewed interest - and demand - on cubes in the near future.