Looking Ahead

Magic Cube turns 30

Happy 30th birthday, Rubik's Cube. On July 26 in 1980, the Hungarian inventor Erno Rubik created a model to help him explain three-dimensional geometry. Along the way, Rubik's model became a best-selling toy with around 300 million sold worldwide. While a teen in 2008, Erik Akkersdijk of the Netherlands set the world record for fastest solution to the 3-by-3-by-3 puzzle: 7.07 seconds. Take that, amateurs.

Arizona gets tough

Unless the United States Department of Justice manages to secure an injunction, Arizona's new immigration law takes effect on July 29, requiring residents to have proof of legal status. Earlier in July, the Justice Department filed a suit in federal court to try and halt the law.

Message from above

Armed forces of the United States will get a boost July 30 when the Air Force thrusts a new communication satellite into space aboard an Atlas 5 rocket deploying from Cape Canaveral, Fla. The satellite, the Advanced Extremely High Frequency spacecraft, is designed to hover in geosynchronous orbit relaying secure communiqués between the Pentagon and commanders in the field of duty.

President's day

As President Barack Obama turns 49 on Aug. 4, it will be up to first lady Michelle Obama to make the day special. In January for the first lady's birthday, the president threw a surprise party at a tony Washington restaurant for his wife. Republicans, meeting at the Republican National Committee annual summer meeting in Kansas City, Mo., will be discussing their plans to force the president into an early retirement party.

Hiroshima day

On Aug. 6, 1945, 65 years ago, crewmen on the Enola Gay became the first ever to deploy the atomic bomb, dropping it on the Japanese city Hiroshima. Estimates indicate the bomb initially killed 80,000 Japanese-though many historians argue that the death toll would have been much higher had Allied forces invaded Japan.

Colombian turn?

Colombia will swear in president-elect Juan Manuel Santos Aug. 7, taking power from Álvaro Uribe. Santos has signaled he would like to become cozier with his Venezuelan and Ecuadorian neighbors, inviting President Hugo Chavez and President Rafael Correa to the inauguration.