Actually, the original W3C proposal for tables specifically mentioned using them for layout. I can't find a working link, but there's also a RFC: The HTML tabl

Actually, the original W3C proposal for tables specifically mentioned using them for layout. I can't find a working link, but there's also a RFC: The HTML table model has evolved from studies of existing SGML tables models, the treatment of tables in common word processing packages, and looking at a wide range of tabular layout in magazines, books and other paper-based documents.[1] It was only later when table layouts began to be discouraged. [1] http://community.roxen.com/developers/idocs/rfc/rfc1942.html http://community.roxen.com/developers/idocs/rfc/rfc1942.html