Why is the tag deprecated in HTML?

I am just curious as to why the tag in HTML was deprecated.



The was a simple way of quickly center-aligning blocks of text and images by encapsulating the container in a tag, and I really cannot find any simpler way on how to do it now.



Anyone know of any simple way on how to center "stuff" (not the margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; and width thing), something that replaces ? And also, why was it deprecated?