Samuel Loyd, one of America's greatest puzzle designers, was born in Philadelphia on 30 January 1841. When he was ten years old, he was already a good chess-player. At fourteen, his first chess problem was published in the New York Saturday Courier of 14 April 1855, and within a year he was recognised as the best chess-problem designer in the country. After 1870, Loyds interest in chess began to fade, and he turned his attention to designing mathematical puzzles and original advertising novelties, displaying unequalled zeal and originality. In his youth he had earned a great deal from a cardboard cut-out puzzle he designed, called "The Trick Donkey". P.T. Barnum (circus owner) sold millions of them, and it is said that Loyd earned 10,000 dollars in just a few weeks, a fortune in those days. Loyd has thousands of magnificent puzzles to his name; they appeared over a fifty-year period in numerous newspapers and magazines. After his death on 10 April 1911, his son compiled an extensive anthology, "The Cyclopedia of Puzzles".
Martin Gardner
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