Why was the CSS property display:table added?

[XBOXsteve]

Can anyone explain to a css/html learner why I would style a generic html element (e.g. \[code\]<div>\[/code\]) with display:table rather than simply using the HTML table tag? It seems to me that the latter would be the one to choose since it's implemented especially for the purpose of presenting table data, but I know the former wouldn't have come into being without a good reason. I just haven't been able to come across a decent explanation. My usually-quite-reliable friend, Google hasn't been able to offer me much help on this one. Thank you in advance!Niall