9 Interesting Facts About Rubik's Cube That You Should Know

The Rubik's Cube is quite an engaging puzzle! Many use this puzzle religiously to work on their motor skills, concentration and logical thinking skills. It is still among the most successful products sold in history. It’s simple design along with enticing complexity challenges and attracts people across all ages of life. Let’s take a look at some of the most interesting facts about the Rubik’s cube and shed a new perspective on this piece of art.

9 Interesting Facts About Rubik's Cube That You Should Know

1. It was initially called the Magic Cube.

Back when the Rubik's Cube was first introduced in the market in 1974, it was termed as the 'Magic Cube' or 'Bűvös Kocka' in Hungarian. In order to overcome the international patent challenges that had arisen in Hungary, the Ideal Toy Corporation, which had bought the rights to this puzzle, changed the name to 'Rubik's Cube' in 1980.

2. Rubik's Cube was a challenge for Ernő Rubik himself.

It was never certain that Rubik had managed to find a solution for his invention. It is said that he spent about a month trying to perform different moves to solve this challenge. Once he found a way to solve it, people went frenzy and were motivated to find different ways to solve the Cube.

3. Speed Cubing competition

Back in 1982, people began competing in the Cube Solving Events. The first-ever World Championship was hosted in Budapest, and the winner was Minh Thai from the United States, at a speed of 22.95 seconds.

4. The most expensive Rubik's Cube ever.

The Masterpiece Cube was created and designed in 1995 on occasion for the 15th anniversary of this iconic toy. It was created by Fred Cueller along with Diamond Cutters International and is worth US $2.5 Million.

5. The first-ever guide was created by a 13-year-old.

In the initial days of Rubik's Cube release, a 13-year-old boy, Patrick Bossert, had published a book called 'You Can Do the Cube' in 1981. This guide sold over 1.5 million copies. In fact, it had become a universal seller and is it still available for purchase!

6. Robots can solve it in under one second.

A Robot named Sub1 solved the Rubik's Cube in 0.887 seconds! It used two webcams to capture the arrangement of the sides. It then calculated the solution as the Arduino-compatible microcontroller board applied the 20 Steps. The MultiCuber999 robot received a Guinness World Record for solving 9x9x9 cubes.

7. The best-selling toys in history

The Rubik's Cube was the best-selling toy in Walmart back in 2015 with over $111 million retail sales! In May 2014, on the 40th birthday of the Rubik's Cube, Google even displayed a Google Doodle wherein one could play with the interactive 3D Cube.

8. Shaping the pop-culture

The Rubik's Cube shaped pop culture as it resonated with an icon of intelligence and intellectual achievement. It provided a great tool for artistic creations like street art, tattoos, etc. In fact, it has also become a part of the movie culture.

9. The largest Cube

The largest Rubik's Cube in the world is 2.022m (6 ft 7 inches) x 2.022m (6 ft 7 inches) x 2.022m (6 ft 7 inches). It was achieved by Tony Fisher on 18th November 2019. All the layers of the Cube move exactly like a Rubik's Cube. However, you might have to lift the whole Cube.

Conclusion

You don't really need a real cube as there are many online simulators available to learn the basics. When you get your new puzzle, try to solve it at least once to experiment how far you can get without help. Who knows, you might become a speedcuber yourself someday!