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PROBLEM SOLVING >> PUZZLES
CHECK MATE
GAMES THAT MAKE YOU THINK: MIND TEASERS, MAGIC CUBES AND MORE!
Puzzled W R ITTEN BY CA MERON COBB
Ever wonder what the first jigsaw picture was? Or which came first – the puzzle, or the puzzle’s box for reference? Who decided the significance of chess pieces? And what could possibly have been the purpose of a confusing cube that may or may not be taunting those who’ve struggled for a decade with no luck? Whether you’ve definitely got it solved or are indefinitely stumped, the history of some of the world’s most perplexing pieces will surely give you something to puzzle over. 86 |
OUR TOWN MAGAZINE
JULY/AUGUST 2018
THE RUBIK’S CUBE Invented by and appropriately named after Hungarian Professor Ernõ Rubik, the colorful creation came about in 1974 as a way to help his students understand 3D problems, according to rubiks.com. Even as the brains behind this Buvos Kocka (or “Magic Cube” in Hungarian), the six-sided puzzle took Rubik over a month to solve! Eager to bewilder others with his kaleidoscopic cube, Rubik set off to Nuremberg, Germany, to showcase his invention at the 1979 Nuremberg Toy Fair. One of the many intrigued by Rubik’s display was toy specialist Tom Kremer. Though Kremer’s fascination went well beyond simply audience amazement, and he went on to convince the Ideal Toy Company to market the Magic Cube, which would be renamed after its creator. Within two years of the Rubik’s Cube’s global launch in 1980, an estimated 100 million units were sold