Mordecai Meirowitz was an Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

i postmaster and telecommunications expert who invented the code-breaking board game

Board game

A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...

 Master Mind

Mastermind (board game)

Mastermind or Master Mind is a code-breaking game for two players. The modern game with pegs was invented in 1970 by Mordecai Meirowitz, an Israeli postmaster and telecommunications expert, but the game resembles an earlier pencil and paper game called bulls and cows that may date back a century or...

. Having been rejected by the leading games companies, he managed to interest a small Leicester

Leicester

Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...

-based educational toy company, Invicta Plastics, which restyled and renamed the game. Released in 1971, the game sold over 50 million sets in 80 countries, making it the most successful new game of the 1970s.