The Rubik's Cube, The Mind-Boggling Toy Worth Millions

|
Erno Rubik and his famous cube. wired

Few inventions in the entirety of human history can match the simplicity and popularity of the Rubik’s Cube. Born from the mind of a Hungarian architect aptly named Ernő Rubik in 1974, the most universal puzzle toy ever started as a collection of colored wood and paper fastened by glue, paper clips, and rubber bands.

Rubik conceived of the idea while working as a descriptive geometry teacher. The lesser-known and arcane study uses two-dimensional images to serve as three-dimensional problems. Undoubtedly, Mr. Rubik became the only purveyor of this discipline to earn over $100 million. Here’s the story of the confounding Rubik’s Cube and its 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 different arrangements.