Check out this excellent presentation by Jen Simmons at An Event Apart: "Everything You Know About Web Design Just Changed"
You will see an an overview of how layout has changed in stages since the beginning of the Web, as folks got new ideas, implemented them, found issues, and then tried new ideas.... a process we are still going through today... Simmons calls today's era of Grid and Flexbox layout "Intrinsic Web Design" #webdesign #layout #intrinsicwebdesign