The Rubik’s Cube was invented in Hungary by Ernő Rubik in 1974.
Rubik was an architecture professor and designer who originally created the puzzle as a teaching tool to help students understand three-dimensional movement. He called the first version the Magic Cube. After securing a Hungarian patent, the puzzle was licensed internationally and renamed the Rubik’s Cube.
The standard cube has six faces, each divided into nine smaller squares, and its pieces can be rearranged into an enormous number of configurations. The well-known challenge is to return every face to a single colour after mixing the cube.
The puzzle became a global craze in the 1980s and remains one of the best-known toys ever made. Hungary is a landlocked Central European country, and Rubik’s invention is one of its most recognizable cultural exports.