From the Book:"Mathematical Puzzles & Diversions" by Martin Gardner.
The familar Tower of Hanoi was invented by the French Mathematician Edouard Lucas and sold as a toy in 1883. It originally bore the name of "Prof. Claus" of the college of "Li-Sou-Stian," but these were soon discovered to be anagrams for "Prof. Lucas" of the College of "Saint Louis."
... The original description of the toy called it a simplified version of a mythical "Tower of Brahma" in a temple in the Indian city of Benares. This tower, the description read, consists of 64 disks of gold, now in the process of being transferred by the temple priests. Before they complete their task, it was said, the temple will crumble into dust and the world will vanish in a clap of thunder. The disappearance of the world may be questioned, but there is little doubt about the crumbling of the temple. ... Assuming the priests worked night and day, moving one disk every second, it would take them many thousands of millions of years to finish the job.
