Dmitri Mendeleev created the periodic table in 1869 by organizing the elements according to their atomic number, allowing elements with similar properties to be grouped together vertically. The periodic table is organized into vertical columns called groups based on valence electrons and horizontal rows called periods based on atomic mass and number. Elements in the same group have the same number of valence electrons and properties become more metallic from left to right and more nonmetallic from top to bottom.