| Suduko first appeared as a game in the 18th | | | | Telegraph of Sydney. This massive surge of |
| century. It took almost 200 years before it made | | | | interest has resulted in Sudoko being called "The |
| it into the media. | | | | fastest growing puzzle in the world". |
| In 1979 the first Suduko puzzle was published in | | | | Despite being the first publishers of Su Doku, The |
| an American puzzle magazine called Dell Pencil | | | | Times were caught napping my the Daily |
| Puzzles and Word Games where it was called | | | | Telegraph. Whereas The Times hid the puzzle in |
| "Number Place" | | | | the middle of the paper, The Telegraph splashed |
| Then it disappeared back into obscurity in the | | | | Sudoko over the front page, realising that it was |
| West, occasionally appearing in puzzle magazines. | | | | increasing sales. They took advantage of their |
| In 1984 the Monthly Nikolist paper in Japan | | | | market lead and published the first Sudoku book |
| published the same kind of puzzle under the name | | | | before the other papers realised just how popular |
| Suduko. Other magazines picked up on this puzzle | | | | Sudoku was. |
| fad, but due to copyright reasons couldn't call it | | | | By mid 2005, every paper in Britain contained a |
| Suduko. | | | | Sudoku puzzle and there was no escaping. Even |
| It was in 1989 Suduko made its first migration to | | | | small local papers were getting in on the popularity |
| computers. DigitHunt was published on the | | | | of the puzzle. The newspapers began to compete |
| Commodore 64, bringing Suduko to a whole new | | | | with each other, with both The Times and Daily |
| audience. In 1995 it appeared on the Apple | | | | Mail both claiming to be the first to feature this |
| Macintosh, and then in 1996 on the Palm PDA. | | | | puzzle. |
| In 1997 Wayne Gould, a retired judge from Hong | | | | 2005 was really the year that Sudoku captured |
| Kong saw a partly completed puzzle in a Japanese | | | | the imagination of the British people. The |
| bookshop. He spent the next six year producing a | | | | newspapers published more and more Sudoku |
| computer program to quickly produce these | | | | puzzles, even Teletext got in on the act. And |
| puzzles. | | | | then finally in July 2005, the satellite channel Sky |
| Wayne knew that the British loved crosswords | | | | One hosted the world's first live TV Sudoku show. |
| and puzzles, so he contacted The Times | | | | It was during the promotion of this show that |
| newspaper in London. As he imaged, they leapt | | | | Sky One built a 275 foot (84m) square puzzle on |
| upon the idea and on 12th November 2004 | | | | a hillside near Chipping Sodbury near Bristol, |
| published it under the name of Su Doku. Every | | | | England. It was next to the M4 motorway and |
| issue of The Times since this date has contained | | | | was coincided with a major road expansion which |
| a Su Doku puzzle. | | | | meant drivers were going slower and could safely |
| Su Doku immediately grabbed the attention of | | | | view the puzzle. Unfortunately for the television |
| the public, and just three days later The Daily Mail | | | | show makers, the puzzle had 1,905 correct |
| published the puzzle, but called it "Codenumber". | | | | solutions, not the usual one solution. |
| On January 19th 2005 The Daily Telegraph | | | | Sudoku, as a puzzle, has captured the minds of |
| published its Sudoku puzzle, which was quickly | | | | tens of thousands of people. It's a puzzle that is |
| picked up by other newspapers. | | | | here to stay, but be warned, once you pick |
| On May 20th 2005, Sudoku made an | | | | Sudoku up, you may struggle to put it down |
| intercontinental leap and appeared in The Daily | | | | again. |