When is the earliest time in history a Rubik's cube could have in theory been made?

[Ordway Persyn]

A few days ago I was thinking about if the Rubik's cube was invented in the 19th century and It had me thinking about how early in history could a the cube have been made?

For example if I travelled back in time 1000 years ago to medieval Europe and explained what a Rubik's cube was to some blacksmiths and/or woodworkers would they be able to make one? Of course they probably wouldn't be made of plastic but they could be made of whatever materials they had access to or were able to work to the required precision.

From a quick search it seems coiled springs were invented in the late 1700's but maybe they could have used springless designs beforehand? I am pretty sure though someone in the 19th century would have had the technology to make one.

 

[THE_V01DL0RD]

A few days ago I was thinking about if the Rubik's cube was invented in the 19th century and It had me thinking about how early in history could a the cube have been made?

For example if I travelled back in time 1000 years ago to medieval Europe and explained what a Rubik's cube was to some blacksmiths and/or woodworkers would they be able to make one? Of course they probably wouldn't be made of plastic but they could be made of whatever materials they had access to or were able to work to the required precision.

From a quick search it seems coiled springs were invented in the late 1700's but maybe they could have used springless designs beforehand? I am pretty sure though someone in the 19th century would have had the technology to make one.

You're not considering the possibility that the Rubik's cube was invented possibly hundreds of thousands of years ago, and everyone's gaslighting you into thinking they were made in the 20th century
also couldn't you just get 27 small cubes, paint them, stack them in a big cube, and call that a Rubik's cube?

 

[Ordway Persyn]

You're not considering the possibility that the Rubik's cube was invented possibly hundreds of thousands of years ago, and everyone's gaslighting you into thinking they were made in the 20th century
also couldn't you just get 27 small cubes, paint them, stack them in a big cube, and call that a Rubik's cube?

One of the things that made me think about this was if Leonardo da Vinci mad a sketch of a cube but it was lost to time.

I was talking about making one that functions like a normal cube we see today (but likely with worse turning). I do rememer seeing a video by Crazybadcuber long ago about these cubes that where just dice and magnets which could be considered as a possible mechanism as well.

Another thing to think about would be how good could you make a cube in any given time period as well.

 

[OtaMota]

From a quick search it seems coiled springs were invented in the late 1700's but maybe they could have used springless designs beforehand? I am pretty sure though someone in the 19th century would have had the technology to make one.

Springs are irrelevant if you don’t want them. There are many cubes today that work just fine (albeit not too speed solvable) without springs.

Something similar I have thought about in the past was how early could the WCA with a record keeping of world wide competitions be founded. I assume the internet was a big help in making the WCA feasible, but I wonder if there could be some workarounds that could allow a WCA to exist in say… the 80s

 

[Fred]

Springs are irrelevant if you don’t want them. There are many cubes today that work just fine (albeit not too speed solvable) without springs.

Something similar I have thought about in the past was how early could the WCA with a record keeping of world wide competitions be founded. I assume the internet was a big help in making the WCA feasible, but I wonder if there could be some workarounds that could allow a WCA to exist in say… the 80s

I agree. I think you could have a functional but maybe fragile and definitely not speedsolvable Rubik's cube pretty far back into history. I think the cleverness and geometrical understanding to come up with such a puzzle are more important than the materials available. I think Archimedes could have done it, since he was interested in both 3-D geometry and puzzles. Or imagine Alexander the Great encountering a Gordian Cube instead of a Gordian Knot and peeling the stickers off.

 

[FenTheGoat]

One of the things that made me think about this was if Leonardo da Vinci mad a sketch of a cube but it was lost to time.

I was talking about making one that functions like a normal cube we see today (but likely with worse turning). I do rememer seeing a video by Crazybadcuber long ago about these cubes that where just dice and magnets which could be considered as a possible mechanism as well.

Another thing to think about would be how good could you make a cube in any given time period as well.

Given how Da Vinci thought, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some sort of prototypical sketch of a cube did exist. Probably not thinking of it as a puzzle, but much more like how Ernie Rubik thought initially, trying to make a 3x3x3 cube where the pieces move in relation to each other without having to take it apart.

 

[Michael Wimberly]

From a quick search it seems coiled springs were invented in the late 1700's but maybe they could have used springless designs beforehand? I am pretty sure though someone in the 19th century would have had the technology to make one.

You technically don't even need springs to make a rubik's cube, you just need a stopper of some sort to keep the center piece from coming off the core. All a spring really does is just an extra precaution.

 

[John Williams]

Has anyone ever built a cube (or sphere) with the mechanism of Frank Fox, which is a bit older than Rubik's?

https://www.jaapsch.net/puzzles/patents/gb1344259.pdf

 

[Deleted member 27249]

You're not considering the possibility that the Rubik's cube was invented possibly hundreds of thousands of years ago, and everyone's gaslighting you into thinking they were made in the 20th century
also couldn't you just get 27 small cubes, paint them, stack them in a big cube, and call that a Rubik's cube?

This Is true because I returned in past I stole Invention the real name now is Platform's Cube.

 

[m.ipg21]

maybe with 10 years of Erno Rubik's patent:

History of cubing - Speedsolving.com Wiki

www.speedsolving.com

 

[cuber314159]

Surely you could theoretically build one with literally just a branch of a tree and a knife (and an insane amount of time and patience)

 

[cuber314159]

Surely you could theoretically build one with literally just a branch of a tree and a knife (and an insane amount of time and patience)

Another video idea for this guy: https://youtube.com/@themikestuff?si=7PLmPXxnNHVSu6mH