Nicolas Hammond - Rubik's Cube

Rubik's Cube

Hammond was introduced to the Rubik's Cube in 1979 by Peter Horrill, head of mathematics at Nottingham High School. The early cubes often broke and Hammond started corresponding with David Singmaster who was importing and selling Rubik's Cubes. Singmaster wrote how fast Hammond was solving the Rubik's Cube (28 seconds) in his Rubik's Notes and later in his Cubic Circular he was a star a football . By 1980, Hammond had the fastest times for solving the Rubik's Cube. Reader's Digest, Scientific American (March 1981) and TIME Magazine (March 1981) covered Hammond as one of the world's first cube-meisters.

Hammond was the fastest qualifier for the first British Rubik's Cube Championship when he won the Midlands heat of the British Rubik's Cube Championship with a time of 35.38 seconds but did not win the event.

Hammond used a computer to determine an upper bound for the Rubik's Cube U group of 21 moves.