The Rubik's Cube was the invention of Ernő Rubik, a Hungarian sculptor and architect in 1974. It became a toy in 1980 (Ideal the vendor). It has sold over 350 million between 1980 and 2009. Talk about staying power!
Tom Rokicki, a programmer in Palo Alto, California, along with Morley Davidson, John Dethridge, & Herbert Kociemba determined out of 91,365,146,187,124,313 tries, you can solve the Rubik's Cube in 20 moves. This has become the new God's Number, or God's Algorithm, so-called that supposedly even the Almighty couldn't solve the Rubik's cube in less than 20 moves.
Odd...I thought the answer (at least in 1992) was 42:
"Forty-two," said Deep Thought, with infinite majesty and calm. "The Answer to the Great Question, of Life, the Universe and Everything." Chapter 27, "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." (Deep Thought was the name of the computer)
See also New Scientist: Physics & Math
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