The Rubik's Cube, invented by Hungarian architect Ernő Rubik in 1974, has become one of the world's most beloved puzzles
BUDAPEST, Hungary -- More than half a century ago, a Hungarian architect, sculptor and professor invented what would become one of the world's most popular and beloved puzzles whose appeal has spanned generations: the colorful, mind-bending, six-sided Rubik's Cube.
Now, after selling more than half a billion units and becoming a worldwide cultural touchstone, production of the cube is returning to Hungary, where its inventor, Ernő Rubik, first conceived of the iconic object that bears his name.
Hungary “is the home of the cube. The cube was born here,” Rubik, 82, said on Tuesday at the opening of a new, fully automated Rubik's Cube production line in the Hungarian city of Jászberény.
The journey of the Rubik's Cube began in 1974, when Rubik was teaching design at the Academy of Applied Arts and Design in Budapest. Seeking to create a three-dimensional object that was “infinite,” he said, he completed a prototype — then made of wood — of a cube that could rotate on multiple axes and was made up of 27 blocks.
Recognizing its consumer value, Rubik soon began producing more of the puzzles.
