ON PREVIOUS DAYS:
- YESTERDAY:
Smearing Christopher Marlowe - DAY BEFORE:
The Coffee Shop Stock Exchange - DAY BEFORE THAT:
Marie Antoinette's Wedding - DAY BEFORE BEFORE THAT:
What Mary Told Me
ON THIS DAY
Rubik’s Magic Prototype
Over 100 million Rubik’s Cubes were sold in just a few short years at the onset of the 1980s – a phenomenon kickstarted on 19th May, 1974, when Hungarian Professor of Architecture Ernő Rubik supposedly created the prototype for his ‘Magic Cube’.
It took him a month to solve himself – a feat which seems unimpressive in a world where the current record stands at under six seconds.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how Ideal Toys saw the unlikely potential in the unprecedented ‘spacial logic toy’ Rubik had created; reveal just how many knockoffs and spinoffs were generated by its incredible success; and explain why there are 519 quintillion reasons to be sceptical about this being a truly significant date in Rubik’s history…
Further Reading:
• ‘Rubik’s Cube – A History of the 1980s Puzzle’ (ThoughtCo, 2019): https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-the-rubiks-cube-1779400
• ‘On this Day, in 1974: the “Magic Cube” was invented by Ernő Rubik’ (Kafkadesk, 2021): https://kafkadesk.org/2021/05/19/on-this-day-in-1974-the-magic-cube-was-invented-by-erno-rubik/
• ‘Rubik’s Cube Commercials through the years!’ (Rubik’s, 2021):
Want more? There’s OVER FIVE MINUTES of Rubik’s fun, cut for time from today’s episode, exclusively available to our podcast’s supporters. For this, and bonus content each and every week, subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts or sign up to our top two tiers on Patreon:
https://patreon.com/Retrospectors. Thanks!
ON THIS DAY
Rubik’s Magic Prototype
Over 100 million Rubik’s Cubes were sold in just a few short years at the onset of the 1980s – a phenomenon kickstarted on 19th May, 1974, when Hungarian Professor of Architecture Ernő Rubik supposedly created the prototype for his ‘Magic Cube’.
It took him a month to solve himself – a feat which seems unimpressive in a world where the current record stands at under six seconds.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how Ideal Toys saw the unlikely potential in the unprecedented ‘spacial logic toy’ Rubik had created; reveal just how many knockoffs and spinoffs were generated by its incredible success; and explain why there are 519 quintillion reasons to be sceptical about this being a truly significant date in Rubik’s history…
Further Reading:
• ‘Rubik’s Cube – A History of the 1980s Puzzle’ (ThoughtCo, 2019): https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-the-rubiks-cube-1779400
• ‘On this Day, in 1974: the “Magic Cube” was invented by Ernő Rubik’ (Kafkadesk, 2021): https://kafkadesk.org/2021/05/19/on-this-day-in-1974-the-magic-cube-was-invented-by-erno-rubik/
• ‘Rubik’s Cube Commercials through the years!’ (Rubik’s, 2021):
Want more? There’s OVER FIVE MINUTES of Rubik’s fun, cut for time from today’s episode, exclusively available to our podcast’s supporters. For this, and bonus content each and every week, subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts or sign up to our top two tiers on Patreon:
https://patreon.com/Retrospectors. Thanks!
ON PREVIOUS DAYS:
- YESTERDAY:
Smearing Christopher Marlowe - DAY BEFORE:
The Coffee Shop Stock Exchange - DAY BEFORE THAT:
Marie Antoinette's Wedding - DAY BEFORE BEFORE THAT:
What Mary Told Me
Can we count on your support?
You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts for bonus material OR, on our Patreon, there’s three tiers to choose from, each with their own wonderful perks, from ad-free versions to BIRTHDAY SURPRISES.
OLLY MANN
Olly Mann made his name with another trivia-wielding podcast, Answer Me This! with Helen Zaltzman – and now presents The Modern Mann, The Week Unwrapped, and Four Thought for BBC Radio Four. He also has an A-Level in History, so Dan Snow beware.
REBECCA MESSINA
Rebecca got a passion for podcasting working at The Week magazine and a passion for trivia appearing on University Challenge in 2011, making The Retrospectors her natural home.
ARION MCNICOLL
Arion started out in satirical news in Australia, then moved to the UK to work for ostensibly serious publications including The Times, CNN, and The Week… before realising that since around 2016 the news has all been satire really.
Do you have a day of note that we should cover? Or would you or your business like to support the podcast? Get in touch!
