Who invented the Rubik's Cube?
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Three, two, one, go! - Psst, hey, smarty pants, in case you can't tell, I've just jumped out of a plane! - Excuse me, would you mind keeping it down, trusty narrator? I'm trying to concentrate here. - As you can hear, I'm not alone. I'm attached to another gentleman, and together we're now hurtling towards the Earth at over 100 miles per hour. - Seriously, I need to concentrate!

You're probably thinking he's a professional skydiver or skydiving instructor, but no. His name is Dan Knight, and today he's attempting to solve a Rubik's Cube as he skydives from 12,000 feet. Wow, it sure is windy. Um, the craziest part is he's not going to pull our parachute until he's solved the Rubik's Cube. How's it going? Ah, just a few more twists.

There! Got it! Ha ha! In just 32 seconds! Phew! Thank goodness! Pull the chute! Pull the chute! Ah, that's better. The Rubik's Cube, often referred to as the world's favorite puzzle, has been around since 1974, smarty pants. No, there weren't dinosaurs back in 1974. But it was some time ago. And yet, the Rubik's Cube is still going strong.

In fact, there are lots of people like my friend Dan here setting new records with it every day. Get ready to land, trusty! Yes, I'm back on the ground where I belong. Oh, Dan, you dropped your solved Rubik's Cube.

I left it for you. Enjoy! Oh, thanks, Dan. So what is it about this simple block made up of 54 colorful plastic squares that people find so fascinating? Who invented the Rubik's Cube? What does the name even mean? How did the Rubik's Cube become one of the best-selling toys of all time? And what's the fastest time for solving one? Get ready for some twists and turns. And a big whiff of science and history on...

Have you ever looked up at the stars and wondered, is there life on other planets?

From Disney and Pixar. Welcome to the community-verse. Allow me to adjust your gravity. Gravity off. Are not alone. Are you gonna eat me?

What kind of alien are you? Disney and Pixar's Elio, rated PG. Parental guidance suggested. Only in theaters June 20th. Tickets available now. Okay, smarty pants. I'm headed home in an Uber after a pretty thrilling day. I can't believe Dan was able to solve this Rubik's Cube in just 36 seconds. Can you solve a Rubik's Cube, smarty pants? And if you can, how fast can you do it?

Me? I'm lucky if I can get one side the same color. Uh, don't give up, trusty narrator. It just takes practice. Who said that? Was that the driver? No, down here. I'm the solved Rubik's Cube you're holding. Oh, sorry. I wasn't expecting you to talk. But it seems like almost everything can talk on Who's Smarted. Say, can I ask you some questions?

Ruby, and sure, go ahead. You're certainly not the first person trying to figure me out. Right. So, what's it like being one of the best-selling toys ever? In a word, dizzying. You see, people have been twisting, turning, and spinning me around for decades now.

With no end in sight, and it's not enough for people to just solve me, now everyone wants to solve me in unusual situations. You mean like Dan jumping out of a plane? I've been solved underwater, on a unicycle, on top of Mount Everest.

Wow, Ruby, it sounds like you've got a crazy life. Yep, it's been a wild ride. Not bad for a simple cube born in humble beginnings. Ah, speaking of, where were you, um, born? I was invented in Budapest, Hungary in 1974 by a sculptor, tact, and professor named Erna Rubik. Mr. Rubik wanted a way to challenge his architecture students, so he made me out of blocks of wood and rubber bands. Ah!

Believe it or not, he couldn't even solve me at first. Good. That makes me feel a little better. It took him a month.

Never mind. I've been trying for years. Please continue. Professor Rubik's students loved playing with me so much, Rubik decided to start selling me to other people in Hungary. Ah, and was Rubik's Cube an instant success? Actually, I wasn't called Rubik's Cube back then. Smarty pants, what do you think the original name of the Rubik's Cube was? Was it the Magic Cube? The Puzzler Cube? Huh? Or the Twisty Cube?

If you said the Magic Cube, good guess. The Magic Cube did fine, but it was in 1979 that my life changed forever. Professor Rubik licensed me to a big American toy company. They're the ones who changed my name to the Rubik's Cube, and immediately people everywhere started buying me like crazy.

Between the years 1981 and 1983, they sold over 200 million Rubik's Cubes. Whoa. That's a lot of unsolved cubes. They put me on lunch boxes, t-shirts, they even wrote books about me. Point three of the top ten best-selling books in the country were about how to solve me. And one of them was written by a 13-year-old boy.

Wow, I am really starting to feel self-conscious. Don't! For the average person, solving a Rubik's Cube is a huge challenge. Most people go their whole lives not solving me. Okay, I feel better now. But that brings up an interesting point. If most people couldn't even solve you, why were you so popular? Well, that's just it.

I may look like a cute toy with my six colorful sides when you first buy me. Smarty Pants, quick quiz. What six colors make up a Rubik's Cube's sides? Did you say red, blue, green, yellow, white, and orange? Nice job. But once you give me a few turns...

I become super tricky to solve. Any idea how many possible combinations you can make trying to solve me? What do you think, Smarty Pants? Is it A, 43,000 combinations, B, 43 million, or C, 43 quintillion?

Believe it or not, it's the big one. 43 quintillion! That means there are 42.9999999 quadrillion wrong solutions. And only one right one. To put it another way, trusty narrator, if you had one Rubik's Cube for each possible wrong combination, you could cover the entire planet Earth in a stack 275 cubes high.

Yeah, I don't feel so bad now. But wait, how does anyone actually solve you? Said, most people estimated only about 5% of the world's population can actually solve me. And those who can use something called algorithms. Oh, algorithms. You mean the math formula that lets Netflix know that I want to watch shows about pizza? Nom, nom, nom, nom, nom. In my case, an algorithm is a series of moves you have to memorize in order to solve me.

Problem is, there are a bunch of long, ring algorithms. You have to string together in just the right way to do it, and that's what makes it so tough. I've always wondered, is it possible to solve you no matter how your squares are arranged at the start? Yes! In fact, some very smart people figured out that no matter what I look like before you begin, it's always possible to solve me in 20 moves or less.

No way. Just 20 moves? Yes. If you do it prickly. The catch is, no one on Earth has a brain powerful enough to see those perfect solutions every time. That's why they call the number 20 God's number. Because only a being with godlike powers could pull that off.

Good. I'd hate to think someone could solve a Rubik's Cube that fast. Well, actually, there are super geniuses known as speedcubers who can solve Rubik's Cubes lightning fast. In fact, they even hold competitions to see who's the fastest. Really? This I have to see. We're heading to a Rubik's Cube competition right after this quick break.

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All right, smarty pants. We're headed to the World Cubing Association's World Championship to check out some speedcubers in action. Hold on to your cubes. The Super Bowl of Speedcubing! I see. What different events will the speedcubers be competing in? Well, there's straight-up speedcubing, but not just with the 3x3 cubes like me. They do everything from 2x2 cubes

up to 7x7. 7x7? As in 49 colored squares per side? Yikes! Yeah, that's much harder than a regular cube. It takes them forever to solve it. Like, almost two minutes. Two minutes? Impressive! I'm assuming 7x7 is the biggest cube that anyone's ever made? Nope. Someone actually made one that's 33x33.

Whoa. Yep, blindfolded Rubik's cubing is also a thing.

But how can you solve a Rubik's Cube if you can't see it? You memorize the cube before you start, then just work the algorithm.

Sounds impossible. You think that's impossible? There's also a multi-blind event where competitors memorize multiple cubes. Then they have an hour to try and get them all right. Did you know a speed cuber once solved 59 out of 60 cubes? That's crazy. Um, why is that person taking off their shoes? Smarty Pants, any guesses? Did you say they're gonna solve a cube with their feet? Exactly.

The time to solve of a 3x3 cube is 15.56 seconds. What? I can barely take off my socks and shoes that fast. The 3x3 speed cube event is starting. I sure hope they oiled up the cubes they're using. Oiled up their cubes? What do you think that means, smarty pants? We Rubik's cubes can jam up when speed cubers start spinning us around real fast. So, between contests, they use a special oil to keep us rotating smoothly.

It's called Cube Lube, and yes, it's totally legal for the competition. Cube Lube? Okay, the finals are about to start. This should be fun. Such drama. On your marks. Such suspense. Get set. Search. Go.

Wait, is it over already? It sure is. The world's record is just 3.47 seconds. What? What? What? Yep. In fact, a 12-year-old named Rui Hangshu once solved a cube in just 2.68 seconds, but it wasn't in competition, so it's not an official record.

2.68 seconds? How? I can barely say Rubik's Cube in two seconds. Amazingly, speedcubers can turn cubes 10 to 12 times per second. But that's nothing compared to what a robot built by some MIT students can do. It can turn a cube 55 times per second and solve one in one second. That's literally in the blink of an eye.

Well, after all this talk about solving Rubik's Cube, I need to give it a try. Use me, trusty narrator. It'll be an honor to... Hey, what are you doing? Taking off my shoes. If I'm going to taste the agony of defeat, it may as well be with my feet. Nice one. Go for it. Happy cubing, smarty pants. And remember, don't feel bad if you can't solve it. It's not easy. It's also a little ticklish. Ha ha!

A big shout out to my smarty friend Matthew in Parker, Colorado. Thanks for writing in to say You Think Who Smarted is a great podcast and that you love how trusty narrator explains things in a kid-friendly way. Aw, thanks, Matthew. Happy to have you smarting with us.

This episode, Rubik's Cube, was written by Steve Melcher and voiced by Sarah Swetik, Adam Tex-Davis, Max Kamaski, and Jerry Colbert. Technical direction and sound design by Josh Hahn. Who Smarted is recorded and mixed at the Relic Room Studios. Our associate producer is Max Kamaski. The theme song is by Brian Suarez, with lyrics written and performed by Adam Tex-Davis.

Who Smarted was created and produced by Adam Tex Davis and Jerry Colbert. This has been an Atomic Entertainment production. Who Smarted?