Back in the year 2000, when I first started learning web development, tables were my best friend.
The web was filled with <tr> and <td> and semantics were non-existent. Images were broken down and placed in bits & pieces inside different table cells.
Things changed in mid-2003 when I came across a site csszengarden.com. This site showcased the new and the right way of doing things, which was to separate content & presentation. After all, that is the reason CSS was created in the first place.