Puzzles

Puzzles, exercises designed to challenge the mind, have been around for thousands of years. They come in all levels of perplexity, from jigsaw puzzles to advanced mathematical problem solving, and may be 3-dimensional, 2-dimensional, digital or purely abstract.

• 3rd Century BC: Greek mathemetician Archimedes invents a geometrical puzzle called the Loculus, meaning "little box."

• 1760: The first known jigsaw puzzle is made by British mapmaker John Spilsbury.

• 1772: The mathematical Puzzle "Euler's Equation of Degree Four" is first posed.

• 1903: The Englishman Henry Dudeney publishes trigonometrical "Haberdasher's Puzzle".

• 1913: The first crossword puzzle, originally called "Word-Cross Puzzle," is published by journalist Arthur Wynne.

• 1926: Henry Dudeney publishes the first "crossnumber" puzzle.

• 1974: Rubik's Cube invented by Hungarian professor Erno Rubik.

• 1979: The American architect Howard Garns invents the numerical puzzle that would later be called Sudoku. It's originally called "Number Place."

• 1984: The Monthly Nikolist publication features first Japanese sudoku puzzle, sparking decades-long international craze.

• • Mahalo's Guides to Rubik's Cube and Sudoku
• Wikipedia: Rubik Cube | Sudoku
• Puzzle Museum: Classes of Mechanical Puzzles
• Amazon.com: Rubik's Cube
• Toys"R"Us: Rubik's Cube | Sudoku