50 years of the Rubik’s Cube | How a Hungarian professor’s humble teaching tool charmed the world and continues to hold sway in the digital age

On a September afternoon in 1980, I boarded the Coromandel Express at Howrah station. New generations have developed the same strong relationship with the Cube”Ernő Rubik Inventor of the Rubik’s Cube Journey of evolution Ambar Chatterjee, who retired as the head of the nuclear physics division at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, is someone else with cubing experiences from 1980. Milestones After its invention in 1974, the puzzle was called Magic Cube and renamed ‘Rubik’s Cube’ in 1980 The first-ever Rubik’s Cube World Championship was held in Budapest in 1982. The winning time that year was 22.95 seconds In 1987, when it was launched internationally, Rubik’s Cube sold more than 14 million units worldwide The Cube made its pop culture debut with an appearance on ‘The Simpsons’ in 1991 As part of 50th anniversary celebrations this year, limited edition Cubes with Batman, Black Panther, Wednesday Addams, Barbie and Hello Kitty themes have been announced Now, at 71, Chatterjee says, “I want to try it again afresh! “For example, Will Smith gets a job in the 2006 movie The Pursuit of Happyness because he can solve the Cube.” There are also anecdotes of the Cube featuring in Google and Microsoft interviews.