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That's what happened with the invention of television in the
1920s, with 17-year-old farm boy Philo Farnsworth besting RCA and a
foreign inventor. This story is not about the invention of
television, though. It's about the invention of a puzzle and its
Hungarian inventor, who also has an unusual name. And it all began
in 1980.
Think back to what was happening in the 1980s: Ronald Reagan was
president, disco was on its way out, and the Cubs were losing most
of their baseball games. OK, some things never change.
This puzzle was so revolutionary that it helped Hungary convert
from communism to capitalism. How?
There were two ways: First, the large export sales of the puzzle
between 1981 and 1985 made it clear that the Hungarian economy
needed to change from communism to capitalism.
Also, a popular Hungarian author wrote a musical play about the
puzzle. The play lasted for three seasons in Budapest and was
critical of the communist regime.
There were a number of strange incidents surrounding the puzzle.
For example, one man spent so much time trying to solve it that his
wife filed for divorce, blaming it on the puzzle.
A football game in Connecticut was delayed because one of the
players didn't show up in time for the opening kickoff. He was later
found trying to solve the puzzle in the locker room.
A 7-year-old Norwegian boy could solve the puzzle, but he
couldn't explain how he did it.
There was even a TV series in the U.S. about the puzzle. It
appeared on ABC in 1983-1984.
This multicolored puzzle has 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 (that's
43 quintrillion) different possible configurations but only one that
is correct.
But that's nothing compared with the fact that two new medical
conditions came about as a result of people spending so much time
trying to solve the puzzle.
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Yet, despite all this, it was rejected at first by the major toy
companies! When the Ideal Toy Company took it on in 1980, they sold
more than 100 million units in the first three years.
The inventor's unusual name?
Erno Rubik. As in Rubik's Cube.
In fact, one out of every eight people IN THE WORLD has tried to
solve Rubik's Cube! Very few have succeeded. I remember the contest
we had in the early 1980s at Quincy Notre Dame high school,
conducted by Mr. Preston, the popular English teacher there. There
were three contestants -- also known as cubists -- who could each
solve the cube in about a minute. The German exchange student would
routinely solve the cube while barely even looking at it.
Here are few other facts that you
might not have known about Rubik's Cube:
- It was originally named the "Magic Cube" in Hungary before
Ideal began selling it in America.
- According to a poll, 85 percent of Americans are familiar
with Rubik's Cube.
- The world record for solving the cube in the shortest time
frame is 23 seconds.
- The two medical conditions that occurred as a result of
people spending too much time trying to solve the cube are known
as the cubist's thumb and Rubik's wrist.
- Erno Rubik became the first self-made millionaire in the
communist bloc.
What ever happened to the inventor, Erno Rubik?
He's alive and doing well in Hungary. He set up a club to help
other inventors. If you want to watch his cube being solved for you,
you can see it online at
www.rubiks.com.
[Paul Niemann]
Paul Niemann is the author of Invention Mysteries. He can be
reached at niemann7@aol.com.
© Paul Niemann 2005
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