Editing Rubik's Cube (section)

==History==
===Precursors===
[[File:Patent US3655201.png|thumb|Diagram from Nichols' patent showing a cube held together with magnets]]

In March 1970, [[Larry D. Nichols]] invented a [[Pocket Cube|2x2x2]] "Puzzle with Pieces Rotatable in Groups" and filed a Canadian patent application for it. Nichols's cube was held together by magnets. Nichols was granted {{US patent|3655201}} on 11 April 1972, two years before Rubik invented his Cube.

On 9 April 1970, Frank Fox applied to patent an "amusement device", a type of [[sliding puzzle]] on a spherical surface with "at least two 3×3 arrays" intended to be used for the game of [[noughts and crosses]]. He received his UK patent (1344259) on 16 January 1974.<ref name="frankfoxpatent">{{Cite web |title=Patent Specification 1344259 |url=http://www.jaapsch.net/puzzles/patents/gb1344259.pdf |access-date=15 June 2012}}</ref>

===Rubik's invention===
In the mid-1970s, Ernő Rubik worked at the Department of Interior Design at the [[Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design|Academy of Applied Arts and Crafts]] in Budapest.<ref name="ampop">{{Cite book |last=Sagert |first=Kelly Boyer |url=https://archive.org/details/s00sage |title=The 1970s (American Popular Culture Through History) |publisher=Greenwood Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-313-33919-6 |location=Westport, Conn |page=[https://archive.org/details/s00sage/page/n150 130] |url-access=limited}}</ref> Although it is widely reported that the Cube was built as a teaching tool to help his students understand 3D objects, his actual purpose was solving the structural problem of moving the parts independently without the entire mechanism falling apart.  He did not realise that he had created a puzzle until the first time he scrambled his new Cube and then tried to restore it.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 December 2006 |title=Rubik's Cube |url=http://www.puzzlesolver.com/puzzle.php?id=29;page=15 |access-date=20 June 2012 |publisher=PuzzleSolver}}</ref> Rubik applied for a [[patent]] in Hungary for his "Magic Cube" ({{langx|hu|bűvös kocka}}) on 30 January 1975,<ref name=":0">{{Cite magazine |date=30 January 2009 |title=Jan. 30, 1975: Rubik Applies for Patent on Magic Cube |url=https://www.wired.com/2009/01/dayintech-0130/ |magazine=Wired |access-date=24 January 2019 }}</ref> and HU170062 was granted later that year.

The first test batches of the Magic Cube were produced in late 1977 and released in toy shops in [[Budapest]]. Magic Cube was held together with interlocking plastic pieces that prevented the puzzle from being easily pulled apart, unlike the magnets in Nichols's design. With Ernő Rubik's permission, businessman Tibor Laczi took a Cube to Germany's [[Nuremberg]] Toy Fair in February 1979 in an attempt to popularise it.<ref name="holper">{{Cite book |last=Holper |first=Paul |title=Inventing Millions |publisher=Orient |year=2006 |isbn=8122204589 |pages=64–65}}</ref> It was noticed by Seven Towns founder Tom Kremer, and they signed a deal with Ideal Toys in September 1979 to release the Magic Cube worldwide.<ref name="holper" /> Ideal wanted at least a recognisable name to trademark; that arrangement put Rubik in the spotlight because the Magic Cube was renamed after its inventor in 1980. [[File:Original Rubik's cube from 1980.jpg|thumb|Original Rubik's Cube - Ideal Toy Corp., made in Hungary 1980|left]]The puzzle made its international debut at the toy fairs of London, Paris, Nuremberg, and New York in January and February 1980.<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 May 2008 |title=History |url=http://www.gyorgykata.hu/design/rubik/demo/cubehistory.html |access-date=25 January 2019 |publisher=Rubiks |archive-date=26 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190126055921/http://www.gyorgykata.hu/design/rubik/demo/cubehistory.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

After its international debut, the progress of the Cube towards the toy shop shelves of the West was briefly halted so that it could be manufactured to Western safety and packaging specifications. A lighter Cube was produced, and Ideal decided to rename it. "[[Gordian Knot|The Gordian Knot]]" and "Inca Gold" were considered, but the company finally decided on "Rubik's Cube", and the first batch was exported from Hungary in May 1980.<ref>{{Cite web |date=25 January 2019 |title=About |url=https://uk.rubiks.com/about/ |access-date=25 January 2019 |publisher=Rubiks |archive-date=14 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180814040226/https://uk.rubiks.com/about |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The packaging had a few variations depending on the country, most popular being a clear plastic cylinder but cardboard versions were also used. The cube itself had slightly different variations in the order of the colours (Western vs. Japanese colour scheme where blue/yellow are switched) and some of the cubes did not have a white piece logo.

===1980s Cube craze===
[[File:Expo 82 Rubik's Cube.jpg|thumb|left|The world's largest Rubik's Cube was constructed for the [[1982 World's Fair]] in [[Knoxville, Tennessee]].]]
After the first batches of Rubik's Cubes were released in May 1980, initial sales were modest, but Ideal began a television advertising campaign in the middle of the year which it supplemented with newspaper advertisements.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Dougherty |first=Philip H. |date=30 July 1981 |title=Advertising Ideal Toy's Son of Rubik Cube |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/07/30/business/advertising-ideal-toy-s-son-of-rubik-cube.html}}</ref> At the end of 1980, Rubik's Cube won a German Game of the Year special award<ref name="carlisle">{{Cite book |last=Carlisle |first=Rodney P. |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaplay00carl |title=Encyclopedia of Play in Today's Society |publisher=Sage |year=2009 |isbn=978-1452266107 |page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaplay00carl/page/n622 612] |url-access=limited}}</ref> and won similar awards for best toy in the UK, France, and the US.<ref name="europa">{{Cite web |title=Interview with Ernő Rubik |url=http://www.create2009.europa.eu/ambassadors/profiles/erno_rubik.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180527190611/http://www.create2009.europa.eu/ambassadors/profiles/erno_rubik.html |archive-date=27 May 2018 |access-date=26 October 2016 |publisher=Europa}}</ref> By 1981, Rubik's Cube had become a craze, and it is estimated that in the period from 1980 to 1983 around 200&nbsp;million Rubik's Cubes were sold worldwide.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Singmaster |first=David |title=The Lighter Side of Mathematics: Proceedings of the Eugène Strens Memorial Conference on Recreational Mathematics and Its History |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1994 |isbn=088385516X |editor-last=Guy |editor-first=Richard K. |page=[https://archive.org/details/lightersideofmat0000unse/page/340 340] |chapter=The Utility of Recreational Mathematics |author-link=David Singmaster |editor-last2=Woodrow |editor-first2=Robert E. |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/lightersideofmat0000unse/page/340}} Singmaster [http://www.cube20.org/cubelovers/CL28/046.txt estimates] the numbers sold were between 100 and 300 million. His estimate is based on sales of 50 to 100&nbsp;million legitimate cubes and perhaps a higher number of imitations.</ref> In March 1981, a [[speedcubing]] championship organised by the [[Guinness Book of World Records]] was held in [[Munich]],<ref name="carlisle" /> and a Rubik's Cube was depicted on the front cover of ''[[Scientific American]]'' that same month.<ref name="batchelor">{{Cite book |last1=Batchelor |first1=Bob |url=https://archive.org/details/1980s0000batc/page/97 |title=The 1980s |last2=Stoddart |first2=Scott |publisher=Greenwood |year=2007 |isbn=978-0313330001 |page=[https://archive.org/details/1980s0000batc/page/97 97]}}</ref> In June 1981, ''[[The Washington Post]]'' reported that Rubik's Cube is "a puzzle that's moving like fast food right now ... this year's [[Hula hoop|Hoola Hoop]] or [[Balance board|Bongo Board]]",<ref name="allen">{{Cite news |last=Allen |first=Henry |date=10 June 1981 |title=The Cube |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1981/06/10/the-cube/6142c377-a12c-4c0a-ad26-a06538749964/}}</ref> and by September 1981, ''[[New Scientist]]'' noted that the cube had "captivated the attention of children of ages from 7 to 70 all over the world this summer."<ref name="herman">{{Cite news |last=Herman |first=Ros |date=10 September 1981 |title=Cubic mastery |work=New Scientist |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jpr_dn_0IfEC&pg=PA678 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819133107/https://books.google.com/books?id=jpr_dn_0IfEC&pg=PA678 |url-status=dead |archive-date=19 August 2020 }}</ref>

As most people could solve only one or two sides, numerous books were published including [[David Singmaster]]'s ''Notes on Rubik's "Magic Cube"'' (1980) and Patrick Bossert's ''You Can Do the Cube'' (1981).<ref name="carlisle" /> At one stage in 1981, three of the top ten best selling books in the US were books on solving Rubik's Cube,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Singmaster |first=David |title=The Lighter Side of Mathematics: Proceedings of the Eugène Strens Memorial Conference on Recreational Mathematics and Its History |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1994 |isbn=088385516X |editor-last=Guy |editor-first=Richard K. |page=[https://archive.org/details/lightersideofmat0000unse/page/340 340] |chapter=The Utility of Recreational Mathematics |author-link=David Singmaster |editor-last2=Woodrow |editor-first2=Robert E. |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/lightersideofmat0000unse/page/340}}</ref> and the best-selling book of 1981 was James G. Nourse's ''[[The Simple Solution to Rubik's Cube]]'' which sold over 6&nbsp;million copies.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hanauer |first=Joan |date=5 January 1982 |title=The man who wrote the best-selling book of 1981 |work=United Press International |url=http://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/01/05/BEST-SELLER/3264379054800/}}</ref> In 1981, the [[Museum of Modern Art]] in New York exhibited a Rubik's Cube, and at the [[1982 World's Fair]] in [[Knoxville, Tennessee|Knoxville]], Tennessee a six-foot Cube was put on display.<ref name="carlisle" /> In 1983, [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC Television]] released a cartoon show called ''[[Rubik, the Amazing Cube]]''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Terrace |first=Vincent |title=Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 |publisher=McFarland |year=2008 |isbn=978-0786486410 |page=915}}</ref> In June 1982, the [[1982 World Rubik's Cube Championship|First Rubik's Cube World Championship]] took place in [[Budapest]] and would become the only competition recognized as official until the championship was revived in 2003.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Scheffler |first=Ian |title=Cracking the Cube |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=2016 |isbn=978-1501121944 |page=88}}</ref>

In October 1982, ''[[The New York Times]]'' reported that sales had fallen and that "the craze has died",<ref name="nytimes">{{Cite news |date=30 October 1982 |title=Rubik's Cube: A Craze Ends |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/10/30/business/rubik-s-cube-a-craze-ends.html}}</ref> and by 1983 it was clear that sales had plummeted.<ref name="carlisle" /> However, in some countries such as China and the USSR, the craze had started later and demand was still high because of a shortage of Cubes.<ref>{{Cite news |date=22 February 1982 |title=China facing Rubik Cube shortage |work=United Press International |url=http://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/02/22/China-facing-Rubik-Cube-shortage/4252383202000/}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Reed |first=Steven R. |date=8 December 1982 |title=Russians Queue for Rubik's Cube |work=United Press International |url=http://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/12/08/Russians-Queue-for-Rubiks-Cube/9098408171600/}}</ref>

===21st-century revival===
Rubik's Cubes continued to be marketed and sold throughout the 1980s and 1990s,<ref name="carlisle" /> but it was not until the early 2000s that interest in the Cube began increasing again.<ref name="harris">{{Cite book |last=Harris |first=Dan |title=Speedsolving the Cube |publisher=Sterling |year=2008 |isbn=978-1402753138 |page=3}}</ref> In the US, sales doubled between 2001 and 2003, and ''[[The Boston Globe]]'' remarked that it was "becoming cool to own a Cube again".<ref name="noonan">{{Cite news |last=Noonan |first=Erica |date=8 November 2003 |title=Let's twist again |work=Boston Globe |url=http://archive.boston.com/ae/games/articles/2003/11/08/lets_twist_again/}}</ref> The [[2003 Rubik's Cube World Championship]] was the first speedcubing tournament since 1982.<ref name="harris" /> It was held in [[Toronto]] and was attended by 83 participants.<ref name="harris" /> The tournament led to the formation of the World Cube Association in 2004.<ref name="harris" /> Annual sales of Rubik branded cubes were said to have reached 15&nbsp;million worldwide in 2008.<ref name="quenqua">{{Cite news |last=Quenqua |first=Douglas |date=6 August 2012 |title=Rubik's Cube Twists Back into Limelight |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/07/science/rubiks-cube-enjoys-another-turn-in-the-spotlight.html}}</ref> Part of the new appeal was ascribed to the advent of Internet video sites, such as YouTube, which allowed fans to share their solving strategies.<ref name="quenqua" /> Following the expiration of Rubik's patent in 2000, other brands of cubes appeared, especially from Chinese companies.<ref name="hookway">{{Cite news |last=Hookway |first=James |date=14 December 2011 |title=One Cube, Many Knockoffs, Quintillions of Possibilities |work=The Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970204319004577088513615125328}}</ref> Many of these Chinese branded cubes have been engineered for speed and are favoured by speedcubers.<ref name="hookway" /> On 27 October 2020, [[Spin Master]] said it will pay $50 million to buy the Rubik's Cube brand.<ref name="Evans" />