Sometimes I forget the various Hungarian connections to daily life that sit just below the surface. A few days back a friend came over from the United States to experience Budapest, while showing him around the city I was reminded of this.

My friend’s son, like many people enjoys solving Rubik’s Cubes. Yet, most people are unaware that these amazing puzzles are Hungarian. Designed by Ernő Rubik a professor of architecture at what is now the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design (Moholy-Nagy Művészeti Egyetem) in the 1970s, the Rubik’s Cube and its successors products are one of the largest Hungarian cultural exports of the 20^thCentury. 

Rubik reflects the long tradition of outstanding achievement in STEM by Hungarians. For example, as of 2023 fifteen Hungarians received Nobel laurels including Katalin Karikó. And many others have garnered the highest honors of their fields.