Find sources: "Rubik's Cube"– news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR ( January 2021) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Each of the six centre pieces pivots on a fastener held by the centre piece, a "3D cross". A spring between each fastner and its corresponding piece tensions the piece inward, so that collectively, the whole assembly remains compact but can still be easily manipulated. The older versions of the official Cube used a screw that can be tightened or loosened to change the "feel" of the Cube. Newer official Rubik's brand cubes have rivets instead of screws and cannot be adjusted. Inexpensive clones do not have screws or springs, all they have is a plastic clip to keep the centre piece in place and freely rotate.

See also: Rubik's Cube in popular culture The world's largest Rubik's Cube was constructed for the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee. I want to emphasise, our children, our fathers, our mothers, our sisters, are currently in captivity. There are people whose hearts are broken at this time, and I want to make sure that all the hostages, until the last one, will return home," he said. The Rubik's Cube is a 3-D combination puzzle originally invented in 1974 [2] [3] by Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik. Originally called the Magic Cube, [4] the puzzle was licensed by Rubik to be sold by Pentangle Puzzles in the UK in 1978, [5] and then by Ideal Toy Corp in 1980 [6] via businessman Tibor Laczi and Seven Towns founder Tom Kremer. [7] The cube was released internationally in 1980 and became one of the most recognized icons in popular culture. It won the 1980 German Game of the Year special award for Best Puzzle. As of March2021 [update], over 450million cubes had been sold worldwide, [8] [9] [ needs update] making it the world's bestselling puzzle game [10] [11] and bestselling toy. [12] The Rubik's Cube was inducted into the US National Toy Hall of Fame in 2014. [13]

What are Cubes?

Although the Rubik's Cube reached its height of mainstream popularity in the 1980s, it is still widely known and used. Many speedcubers continue to practise it and similar puzzles, and compete for the fastest times in various categories. Since 2003, the World Cube Association (WCA), the international governing body of the Rubik's Cube, has organised competitions worldwide and recognises world records.

Even while Rubik's patent application was being processed, Terutoshi Ishigi, a self-taught engineer and ironworks owner near Tokyo, filed for a Japanese patent for a nearly identical mechanism, which was granted in 1976 (Japanese patent publication JP55-008192). Until 1999, when an amended Japanese patent law was enforced, Japan's patent office granted Japanese patents for non-disclosed technology within Japan without requiring worldwide novelty. [42] [43] Hence, Ishigi's patent is generally accepted as an independent reinvention at that time. [44] [45] [46] Rubik applied for more patents in 1980, including another Hungarian patent on 28 October. In the United States, Rubik was granted U.S. Patent 4,378,116 on 29 March 1983 for the Cube. This patent expired in 2000. 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. [23] At the end of 1980, Rubik's Cube won a German Game of the Year special award [24] and won similar awards for best toy in the UK, France, and the US. [25] By 1981, Rubik's Cube had become a craze, and it is estimated that in the period from 1980 to 1983 around 200million Rubik's Cubes were sold worldwide. [26] In March 1981, a speedcubing championship organised by the Guinness Book of World Records was held in Munich, [24] and a Rubik's Cube was depicted on the front cover of Scientific American that same month. [27] 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 Hoola Hoop or Bongo Board", [28] 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." [29] The Cube can be taken apart without much difficulty, typically by rotating the top layer by 45° and then prying one of its edge cubes away from the other two layers. Consequently, it is a simple process to "solve" a Cube by taking it apart and reassembling it in a solved state. In March 1970, Larry D. Nichols invented a 2×2×2 "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 U.S. Patent 3,655,201 on 11 April 1972, two years before Rubik invented his Cube.This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sourcesin this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. The puzzle was originally advertised as having "over 3,000,000,000 (three billion) combinations but only one solution". [51] Depending on how combinations are counted, the actual number is significantly higher.