Ernő Rubik invented the Magic Cube in 1974

In 1974, Ernő Rubik, an architecture lecturer at the Budapest College of Applied Arts, created the first prototype of what would become a global phenomenon. Originally designed as a wooden structural model to help students visualize three-dimensional spatial relationships, the device was not intended to be a commercial toy.

After scrambling his initial wooden model, Rubik spent nearly a month attempting to restore it to its original configuration, making him the first person to solve the puzzle. He applied for a Hungarian patent in January 1975, registering the device as the ‘Magic Cube’.

Since its release, the puzzle has seen worldwide sales estimated between 400 million and 500 million units. Mathematically, the cube possesses approximately 43 quintillion possible configurations. Research has since established that any of these states can be solved in 20 moves or fewer, a limit often referred to as ‘God’s number’.