History
Steiner triple systems were defined for the first time by W.S.B. Woolhouse in 1844 in the Prize question #1733 of Lady's and Gentlemen's Diary. The posed problem was solved in (Kirkman 1847). In 1850 Kirkman posed a variation of the problem known as Kirkman's schoolgirl problem, which asks for triple systems having an additional property (resolvability). Unaware of Kirkman's work, Jakob Steiner reintroduced triple systems in (Steiner 1853), and as this work was more widely known, the systems were named in his honor.
Read more about this topic: Steiner System
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