January 29 is National Puzzle Day, a day formed in 2002 by puzzlemaker Jodi Jill in an effort to share her love for puzzles.

While there have been many types of puzzles throughout history, the first jigsaw puzzle was made by mapmaker John Spilsbury in the1760s. He glued his maps on wood and cut them out which he called “dissected maps”.

The original purpose was to teach children geography but spiraled into the hobby it is today. My Modern Met says “When the Great Depression hit America in 1929, puzzles experienced a huge surge in popularity.” Almost 100 years later, puzzles are regaining popularity during this pandemic, most likely because people are looking for new hobbies. If you want to know more about jigsaw puzzles by people of color, check out this site: https://cutt.ly/bjEXhmY.

National Puzzle Day is not limited to jigsaw puzzles. You can celebrate by doing a variety of different puzzles. There are 6 categories for puzzles: logic puzzles, math puzzles, word puzzles, trivia puzzles, mechanical puzzles, and cryptic puzzles.

If you’re interested in math puzzles you can try Sudoku, magic square, or Kakuro. Or maybe you prefer word puzzles. You could try crossword puzzles or word searches. You could also try mechanical puzzles like the Rubick’s Cube or puzzle boxes.

However you chose to celebrate National Puzzle Day, your brain will thank you for giving it a workout!