KASHIHARA, Nara -- A wooden tablet unearthed in 2001 from the ruins of Japan's late seventh to early eighth century capital Fujiwara-kyo here was part of a multiplication table chart used by ...

The original chart, likely on a wooden board measuring 32.6 cm in length, listed 37 key multiplication facts from "1 x 1 = 1" to "9 x 9 = 81." ...