Funny Nature & Travel Art & Stage Going Viral Science Greetings Inspirational

Edit Profile Recently Viewed Favorites

Main > Science & Tech > Computers & Internet

The Oldest Smiley Icon is 4,000 Years Old!

Edited By: Tamar Z.

Add to Favorites In Favorites

Español

Font Size:

A+ A-

Maybe we're a little late to the celebration this year, but did you know the International World Smile Day is celebrated on the 1st of October every year? In this article, we explore the cultural phenomenon behind this day - the smiley face. Have you ever thought how remarkable it is that we recognize a smiling face in such a simple illustration? It usually doesn't even have a nose!

The Pareidolia Effect

Source

Ever felt like the electric socket has a gloomy expression? Pareidolia is an effect that makes us see faces in the simplest patterns. Currently, the earliest documented smiley known to us appears on a 4,000-year-old pot found in Turkey in 2017. The archeological expedition was led by professor Nicolo Marchetti of the University of Bologna, in Italy. Here it is below.

Source

It would be nice to imagine that this smiley is the ancestral father of the iconic yellow smiley face we all know, which was born only in the 60s thanks to the illustrator Harvey Ball. It was just like any other ordinary project for him. He was hired by State Mutual Life Assurance Company to create a motivating and positive commercial design. Neither he nor the company knew they were making history. Ball was paid 45$ for his work.

The smiley icon has been at the center of trademark and ownership litigations since the 70s. Ball declared October 1 as World Smile Day. This was his way to take a positive stance, instead of being dragged to court with ownership battles. The day was first celebrated in 1999, and it has been annually honored ever since!

The Invention of the Emoticon

Source

Thanks to the pareidolia effect, it was only a matter of time before we realized that a colon and a bracket can make a happy face. The :) icon, sometimes typed :-) with a nose, was born as a solution to a problem that emerged with the newly found rapid online chat in the 1980s. Professor Scott Fahlman of the Carnegie Mellon University noticed that it was hard to tell the emotional tone of messages sent in online chats with his colleagues. He suggested :-) to indicate humor or sarcasm and :-( to indicate seriousness, thus inventing the emoticon.

Emojis

Source

Our next and current stop in the history of the smiley face is the emoji, which wouldn't have been brought into existence without the emoticon. The invention of the very first set of emojis, which were very pixelated, is widely credited to Shigetaka Kurita of the Japanese telecom company NTT Docomo.

Like professor Fahlman's emoticon, Kurita's designs from 1999 were meant to make communication easier. Apart from adding tone to the sentence, they were a way to narrow down words into single character emojis, as the E-mails offered by the system were restricted to 250 characters only. Can you imagine?

The first version of the high-resolution emoji as we know it today was released in 2015 by Unicode under the name Emoji 1.0. You can see the entire collection here. Unicode is "an information technology standard for the consistent encoding, representation, and handling of text," and that includes emojis. The upcoming version is Emoji 14.0, which will include a melting face!

Cover image

Source: Edition, Edition, Dictionary.com

Like Next Post Send Share WhatsApp

Copy Link

Did you mean:

Continue With: Facebook Google

By continuing, you agree to our T&C and Privacy Policy

Report copyright infringement

Print this content

You may also like:

Science and Technology

Do You Remember These Unusual Mobile Phones?

13 Forgotten Phone Designs That Were Too Odd to Survive

From pen-shaped dialers to phones that clipped onto your clothes, here’s a look at the most unusual phones ever made.

Baba Recommends

Know the Realities of the Lawmen of the Old West

9:46

History: What Was it Like Being an Old West Sheriff?

This video shows us how a sheriff from the wild west actually led his daily life. Was it really as glamorous as we thought? Find out.

Sports

The Olympic Games Were SO Different in Ancient Greece

8:25

The FASCINATING Story of the Ancient Olympic Games

Discover the real story of the ancient Olympic Games.

Baba Recommends

A Look Back at the Peculiar History of Banned Numbers

4:43

History Lesson: When Numbers Were Banned

Did you know that once upon a time, some numbers were considered dangerous? Explore the history behind banned numbers here.

Design & Photography

3:06

A Quick History of the Necktie

Learn the origins of the necktie in 3 minutes

Baba Recommends

APRIL FOOL! The Greatest Hoaxes in History

April Fools: The Most Iconic Pranks in History!

It’s April Fool's Day! Let’s check out some of the most iconic pranks in history.

Cute overload

20 Cute and Playful Dog Photos That Will Melt Your Heart

In the series of portraits before you, you'll find 20 especially sweet photographs that manage to be funny, moving, and full of character all at once.

Cute overload

1:13:39

The Cutest Animal Videos of 2026!

. This collection brings together the most irresistibly cute animal videos of 2026

Send Comment

Related Topics: history, design, texting, icon, emoticon, History Lesson, history facts, archeology, yellow, emoji, smily

Quizzes

What Do You Know About Pregnancies?

This quiz is designed for sharp, experienced minds who appreciate nuance and depth. Some questions may surprise you. Others may challenge long-held assumptions. Ready to test your knowledge of the science, history, and mysteries of pregnancy?