The Timeline of Smileys

How a yellow circle became the world's language.
From the Analog Era to the Digital Revolution.

Part I: The Analog Era

The Birth of the Icon (1963 - 1997)

Before they were digital pixels, they were physical buttons and text characters.

1963

The $45 Sketch

Harvey Ball creates the original yellow smiley face in Worcester, Massachusetts to boost insurance company morale. He spends 10 minutes on it and gets paid $45.

1972

The Smiley Brand

French journalist Franklin Loufrani trademarks the smiley to highlight "Good News" in the newspaper France Soir. This marks the beginning of the commercial Smiley company.

1982

The First Emoticon :-)

Scott Fahlman at Carnegie Mellon University posts the first digital emoticon :-) on a bulletin board to distinguish jokes from serious warnings.

1988

The Acid House Era

The smiley face becomes the rebellious symbol of the electronic dance music and rave culture in the UK (The "Second Summer of Love").

1997

Instant Messenger Graphics

AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) introduces "Buddy Icons" and graphical text replacements, bridging the gap between text :-) and image.

🧠 Quiz 1: The Analog Era

1. Who created the original yellow smiley?

2. How much was paid for the original design?

3. What was the first text emoticon?

4. Which music genre adopted the smiley in the 80s?

5. In which country did the "Smiley Brand" start?

6. Why was the first emoticon created?

Question 1 of 6

Part II: The Digital Era

Global Language (1999 - 2026)

From 176 pixels to thousands of high-definition animations.

1999

The First Emojis

Shigetaka Kurita releases the first set of 176 emojis for NTT DoCoMo pagers in Japan. They are simple 12x12 pixel grids.

2008

The Hidden Keyboard

Apple releases iPhone OS 2.2 with an emoji keyboard, but it is locked only for Japanese users. Tech-savvy users find apps to unlock it globally.

2010

Unicode Standard

The turning point. Unicode officially adopts emojis, ensuring that a smiley sent from an iPhone looks correct on an Android or PC.

2015

Word of the Year

The "Face with Tears of Joy" 😂 emoji is named the Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year, proving emojis are a legitimate language.

2025

Unicode 17 Launch

The latest standard introduces new concepts, possibly including more customization and "Future Creatures," expanding the library to over 3,800 icons.

🧠 Quiz 2: Emoji Master

1. Which country invented the modern Emoji?

2. What does "Emoji" mean literally?

3. Which emoji was "Word of the Year" in 2015?

4. How many emojis were in the original 1999 set?

5. What does the Skull 💀 mean in Gen Z slang?

6. What organizations manages official emojis?

7. When is World Emoji Day?

8. Which emoji replaced the Gun 🔫 on major platforms?

Question 1 of 8

Create Your Own History

Now that you know the past, go design the future!