The Rubik's Cube is part of pop culture history, and many of us have owned one, while few have successfully solved it. Just what is it about the Rubik's Cube that is so enamoring? How has this little puzzle become part of the fabric of America?

Overview

The Rubik's Cube is a three-dimensional cube shaped puzzle. Each face of the puzzle is divided into nine segments, and each segment has a colored sticker on it. The colors are all jumbled, and the goal is to line them up so that each face is made of only one color. As of 2009, 350 million of these toys have been sold across the globe, more than any other puzzle in the world.

History

So where did this ingenious device begin? The puzzle was born in the mind of Erno Rubik, a Hungarian inventor and interior designer. His goal was not to make a game, but to make a cube that had blocks that could move independently without falling apart. It was a structural design puzzle to the inventor. The first cube was a finished cube, with all of the pieces in the right place. As Rubik moved the blocks to test his design, he was impressed at how quickly the cube became a seemingly random mix of colors. He was even more impressed by the challenge of putting them back in their proper places. In 1974, the Rubik's Cube was officially invented, because the 29-year-old inventor realized quickly that putting the puzzle back together was not easy at all. In fact, it took him a month to fix the problem.

In 1975 Rubik applied for a Hungarian patent for his little game, which was approved in 1977. The cube was first called the Magic Cube, but when Ideal Toy wanted to market the toy in America, they had to rename it Rubik's Cube because of international copyright laws. Cubic Rubes, or the game's early fans, quickly began to form clubs promoting the solving of the puzzle. Tests and speedcubing competitions began popping up across the world, and the toy quickly became an icon of the 80s. Today there are many types of Rubik's Cubes, including models for the blind, the pocket cube, Rubik's Revenge, and the challenging Professor's Cube. Modern Rubik's Cubers spend hours trying to beat the latest records.

Strategy

The Rubik's Cube is nearly impossible to solve without some sort of strategy. Random turns will only make it more of a jumble. Players have to approach the process with skill, stamina, and a plan. Today, you can use the Internet to help you find solutions to the popular game. Here are just a few of them:

• Solving the Rubik's Cube for Speed – A solution designed to get the answer quickly
• Beginner's Solution to the Rubik's Cube – A solution for beginning players
• My Speed Cubing Page – Another option for those who want to solve the problem with speed
• Rubik's Cube Solution – A graphic solution that is great for beginners
• How to Solve Rubik's Cube – A solution that focuses on helping the player understand the puzzle, not memorize a series of steps
• Rubik Solver – A pictorial guide for beginners
• How to Solve a Rubik's Cube – A video series on solving the puzzle
• Rubik's Revenge Solution – A tutorial showing how to solve the 4 x 4 cube
• Professor's Cube Solution – A tutorial showing how to solve the 5 x 5 cube
• Pocket Cube Solution – A tutorial showing how to solve the 2 x 2 cube

Remember, the Rubik's Cube can be a fun, entertaining puzzle, but it can also be addicting. Just ask Graham Parker, who spent 26 years trying to solve his.