So you thought Sudoku came from the Land of the Rising Sun ...

Sudoku has been identified as a classic meme - a mental virus that spreads from person to person across national boundaries. The puzzle is using our brains to multiply across the world.

Sudoku consists of 81 squares, divided into nine blocks of nine squares each. Some squares contain a number. The goal is to fill in the empty squares so that the figures 1 to 9 appear just once in every row, column, and individual block. The puzzle does not require general knowledge or mathematical skill.

• In 1783, a Swiss mathematician made 'Latin Squares,' which was described as magic squares.
• The Dell Puzzle Magazine published the puzzle Number Place in the late 1970s.
• As Dell continued to publish the puzzle through the Eighties quietly, it was imitated and embraced in Japan. Publisher Nikoli made two small improvements and renamed it Sudoku. 'Su' means a number, and 'doku' translates as singular.