The Rubik’s Cube was invented in 1974 by a man named Erno Rubik. If you have ever had trouble with being able to solve the Rubik’s Cube, he advises you to break it down into steps, which is pretty accurate. Rubik alleged that problem-solving is an important skill for a person to have in general, he believes when a problem gets too difficult, you should break it up into smaller elements.

Rubik watched his colorful puzzle go from classroom to classroom, especially during the Cold War era in Hungary.  Then it became a worldwide phenomenon with over 450 million cubes sold. The original 3×3 cube has more than 43 quintillion possible configurations. The principals of the original cube were refinished for the 2×2, 4×4, and 5×5 cubes, and a board game called Rubik’s Race.

The ERHS Cubing Club advisor, Henry Wilson III has been able to solve the Rubik’s Cube for about 14 years now, with his fastest time being one minute.

“The way that it impacted my life is that, I always thought that it was something designated for a specific level of intellect that I couldn’t obtain, and once I learned how to do it, it boosted my confidence in a way where I thought, if I really put my mind to doing something complicated, I can accomplish it,” Wilson said. “The realizations that I get in my own life, I try to then share with my share with my students, so that’s why I made it an assignment.”

Wilson alleged that the Rubik’s Cube can be as things in life.

“If you persevere and you don’t give up, you can accomplish great things,” Wilson says. He feels that once his students learn to solve it they feel much more confident in themselves.

ERHS freshman Ruiqi Zhang, the Cubing Club president has been a “cuber” for about two and a half years now. His fastest personal record is 11 seconds for the 3×3 cube.

“I think it is very important for many people to know how to solve it, because also it is really cool and fun, and I don’t think enough people know how to solve it,” Zhang said. “I really think that everyone should just give it a try.”

He thought it would be really awesome to learn how to solve it, especially after seeing all the people who could solve it really fast, which made him want to learn.

The cube itself is easy to use, but hard to learn how to solve it. Usually, toy crazes happen, then end, but the Rubik’s cube never died. In 2014 it made the National Toy Hall of Fame where it joins childhood classics like Barbie, Hotwheels, and the hula hoop. Rubik remembers the earlier times when people claim to say it was impossible and Rubik was asked to prove otherwise.