At about the same time, it was shown that a family of five groups, called the Mathieu groups and first described by Émile Léonard Mathieu in 1861 and 1873, were also simple. Since these five groups were constructed by methods which did not yield infinitely many possibilities, they were called "sporadic" by William Burnside in his 1897 textbook.
At about the same time it was shown that a family of five groups called the Mathieu groups and first described by Émile Léonard Mathieu in 1861 and 1873 were also simple Since these five groups were constructed by methods which did not yield infinitely many possibilities they were called "sporadic" by William Burnside in his 1897 textbook