On May 19th, 1974, Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture, Erno Rubik, invented the 3D combination puzzle known as the "Rubik's Cube". The cube first became publicly available in Hungary as the "Magic Cube" in 1977, and was released internationally as the "Rubik's Cube" in 1980. It quickly became one of the most recognized icons in pop culture, and won the 1980 German Game of the Year special award for Best Puzzle. As of January 2024, over 500 million cubes have been sold worldwide, making it the world's bestselling puzzle game, as well as the worlds best-selling toy of all time, and was inducted into the US National Toy Hall of Fame in 2014. The Rubik's Cube was such a pop-culture icon in the 1980s, that in 1983, ABC Television released a cartoon show based on it called, "Rubik, the Amazing Cube".
