Who knows, maybe if Benjamin Franklin had been alive during our times he would have been a big Sudoku player too. It seems that Franklin, like Thomas Jefferson, had an affinity for numbers. In his autobiography, he wrote of being ashamed at his ignorance of numbers. To remedy this situation, he got some arithmetic books and learned to read them well.

His great success as a shopkeeper showed that he mastered the subject well. Later in his life, he wrote that he had mastered the subject very well and enjoyed it immensely. Franklin’s appreciation of the role that mathematics played in the state cannot be understated. Still, there were others who found mathematics a boon to their careers as well. Among them was the great writer James Joyce who penned the novel Ulysses. The novel had been banned but later reinstated by a judge who saw mathematical merit in the book. Even Charles Dickens was another celebrated writer of his time adopted numbers when they suited his cause.

And all this relates to Sudoku, the extremely popular math game of our time. Sudoku is played across the world the by a variety of people and is enjoyed by young and old alike. Each of these puzzles has a unique solution and the modern puzzle was invented by an American architect.

It was first published by Dell magazines under the name of Number Place. Today the game is played anywhere that people can open up a newspaer, magazine, or go online to play on their computers. Number puzzles have a long history in popular culture. The first of these started in late 19th century France and within years of the turn-of-the-century, the puzzle adopted its modern form.

The modern Sukoku puzzle was designed by a 74-year-old retired architect from the United States. Unfortunately, this inventor died in 1989 before he could see his creation become a worldwide phenomena.

The first world championship was held in Italy in 2006. The second was held Czechoslovakia the following year and the United States national team will compete in the championship in India in 2008. It is interesting to note that a modern puzzle that is played by thousands of people all across the world every day has its origins in the fascination our forefathers had with mathematics. This offshoot of our historical interest in mathematics should continue on for generations to come.