The History of Sudoku

Sudoku, the logic-based number-placement puzzle, has a fascinating history that spans continents and centuries. While it feels like a modern phenomenon, its roots run deep into mathematical history.

Euler and Latin Squares

In the 18th century, the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler developed the concept of "Latin Squares," a grid where each number or symbol appears exactly once in each row and column. This laid the mathematical foundation for what would eventually become Sudoku.

Number Place in America

The modern version of the puzzle, featuring the crucial addition of 3x3 sub-grids, was first published in 1979 by an American architect named Howard Garns. It appeared in Dell Pencil Puzzles and Word Games magazine under the name "Number Place."

The Japanese Boom

In 1984, the Japanese puzzle publisher Nikoli introduced the game in their magazine Monthly Nikolist. They gave it the name "Sudoku," which is an abbreviation of a longer Japanese phrase meaning "the digits must be single" or "the digits must occur only once." Nikoli introduced two key rules that defined the modern game: the puzzle must be symmetrical, and it must have exactly one solution.

Global Phenomenon

Sudoku remained relatively unknown outside Japan until 1997, when Wayne Gould, a retired Hong Kong judge, discovered the puzzle in a Tokyo bookstore. He spent years developing a computer program to generate Sudoku puzzles rapidly. In 2004, he pitched the puzzles to The Times of London, which began publishing them daily. This sparked a global craze, making Sudoku a staple in newspapers around the world.