While visiting my mother in law for dinner last night, my stepson brought out his gift that he had selected at the gift exchange that had taken place at his school earlier that day. 

It was a Rubik's Cube.

If you are not familiar with a Rubik's Cube, it looks something like this:

(Although they can sometimes come in different sizes and colors)

History:

The Rubik's Cube was invented in 1974 by a Hungarian professor named Erno Rubik. It didn't receive national attention till it was marketed and sold by Ideal Toy Corp in 1980. The cube would go on to win the "Best Puzzle of the Year" award, which I didn't even know was a real thing, that same year. 

To date, there have been roughly 400 million Rubik's Cubes sold. The toy reached the height of its popularity shortly after it was released in 1980, with some estimates showing that almost 200 million cubes were sold between 1981 and 1983. That time period was known as "The Cube Craze". 

In 1981 the first "Speedcubing" championship was held in Munich, Germany hosted by the Guiness Book of World Records. 

It was clear, that The Cube had captivated the world and was said to have enthralled and entertained kids aged 7 to 70 alike. 

The craze would die down in late 1983 with sales becoming almost non existent for the next several years. It was clear, the craze was over. The Rubik's Cube would no longer hold it's crown as the world's top selling toy. 

However, in the early 2000's there has been a resurgence in Rubik's Cube sales. With sales doubling in 2002 and 2003. There was a Speedcubing tournament held in 2003, which was the first officially sanctioned one since 1983. This resurgence would lead to the formation of the official World Cube Association in 2004. 

To this day sales remain somewhat strong as the toy has continued it's resurgence. Internet sites showing how to solve the cube as well as the official cube patents expiring are thought to be the main contributing factors. 

Back to My Story:

As mentioned above, my stepson brought home the first Rubik's Cube our household had ever seen. He tried to solve it a few times before ultimately getting frustrated with it and handed it to "Dad" (me).

Well dad gave it a try for a couple minutes and the best he could do was almost get one side fully completed. When I say almost, I mean that that one side still had 2 other colors remaining while all other sides remained unsolved. 

Me being the perfectionist that I am did not want to give up so easily, so I spent the next 30 minutes trying to get at least one side completed...

Well after 30 minutes I was able to get one side ALMOST completed. I still could not get that last color to match the others on one side. So, after messing around with the cube for almost an hour I still did not even have one side completed. 

I handed it to my mother in law, who promptly completed one entire side in less than 2 minutes. That was not very fun to see...

Thankfully she said she was not able to get much further than that, saying she had once gotten two entire sides completed but could never get any further. I didn't feel like a complete moron...

So, starting today I have begun an internet search trying to learn how to beat this silly thing. Once I have mastered it I will create a post sharing with you all my secrets of success! Until that time feel free to leave any tips or comments below that might help me in my quest for knowledge and power!

Live well my friends!

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubik's_Cube#Popular_culture

Image Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubik's_Cube#Popular_culture

https://www.pixabay.com

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