Larry D. Nichols Larry D. Nichols Larry D. Nichols, born 1939 in the United States, is a puzzle designer. He grew up in Xenia, Ohio, and studied chemistry at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, before moving to Massachusetts to attend Harvard Graduate School. He is best known for the invention of mechanical puzzles including 'The Nichols Cube Puzzle' (1974), patent US365520. He has lived with his wife Karen in Arlington, Massachusetts since 1959. In 1957, 17 years before Dr. Rubik’s invention popularly known as the “Rubik's Cube”, Dr. Nichols conceived of a twist cube puzzle with six colored faces. It was a 2×2×2
Altekruse Puzzle three brothers to escape being drafted into the German army. The Altekruse puzzle has an unusual mechanical action in the first step of disassembly by which two halves move in opposition to each other, unlike the more familiar burr types that have a key piece or pieces. Depending on how it is assembled, this action can take place along one, two, or all three axes independently but not simultaneously." Altekruse Puzzle Altekruse Puzzle is a puzzle invented by Austrian inventor William Altekruse. The puzzle was first released in 1890 and has proved to be very popular ever since. The Universal