Puzzle:Rubik's Cube" The World's # 1 Puzzle

In 1974, Erno Rubik, a Hungarian professor of architecture, design, and mathematics, invented the cube puzzle that bears his name. Each side of the cube consists of 9 brightly colored cubies (three rows of three). The object of the puzzle is to align all the cubies of one side to make a solid color. Wildly popular for a few years, Rubik's Cube inspired a variety of ancillary products, including a 16-cubie per side version, a simplified cube aimed at children, a peg-board game, a globe made of 26 sections, and a number of "cubes" in the shape of pyramids, octagons, and cylinders. The publishing industry delivered a number of books and pamphlets that provided solutions to the puzzle. Eventually the fad ran its course, but the puzzle still sells in the 21st century.