 A particular instance of the problem, which asks how a particular shape can be obtained by the fold-and-cut method, is known as "a" fold-and-cut problem.The earliest known description of a fold-and-cut problem appears in "Wakoku Chiyekurabe" (Mathematical Contests), a book that was published in 1721 by Kan Chu Sen in Japan.An 1873 article in "Harper's New Monthly Magazine" describes how Betsy Ross may have proposed that stars on the American flag have five points, because such a shape can easily be obtained by the fold-and-cut method.