Ernõ Rubik wanted to help his students understand three-dimensional problems, he created the first working prototype of the cube in 1974. The cube did things that the world hadn’t seen before: twisted and turned yet it didn’t break. By adding 54 colourful stickers to the six sides it gave the puzzle its iconic look. When Rubik built his first Cube, it took him over a month to solve it. At that time, he didn’t know that his invention would take the world by storm.

The “Magic Cube” was manufactured in small batches and became more and more popular in Hungary during the late 1970s. Ernõ Rubik realised the potential of his invention, however in communist Hungary in the 1970s, imports and exports were tightly controlled. The solution was to take the cube  across to a variety of international toy fairs, including London, Paris, and New York. In September 1979 the puzzle was spotted in Nuremberg by toy specialist Tom Kremer, who could immediately see the power and potential of the cube. Tom Kremer’s vision was to commercialise the cube and sell it to the world. His passion and belief in the Cube convinced the Ideal Toy Company to distribute the “Magic Cube”. They wanted one important change… a new name! The Rubik’s Cube’s global launch was in 1980. The newer Cubes were half the weight of the earlier models. Solve times became much faster.

Sales of the Rubik’s Cubes in 1980 initally started off as modest, but started to grow once the Ideal Toy Company launched a television advertising campaign. The Rubik’s Cube has become a worldwide craze and hit millions of sales. During this time, the cube became notorious for being unsolvable. During this year, 12 year old Patrick Bossert released a book ‘You Can Do The Cube’ which sold more than 1.5 million copies.

Since then the cube inspired not only film directors and fashion designers, but solving a cube became a chic. Get yourself one, while in Budapest, learn the twist & turns and surprise your loved-ones with your new hidden skill!

Photo: Pixabay