Happy Birthday, :) !

>:) :) :) :) :)
>:) :) :) :) :)
>:) :) :) :) :)
>:) :) :) :) :)
>
>Today, the smiley face emoticon turns 20 years old.
>
>http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wbur/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID96319
>

yay! it was from a bboard at carnegie melon, this is the post where
it came from:

++

19-Sep-82 11:44 Scott E Fahlman :-)
From: Scott E Fahlman <Fahlman at Cmu-20c>

I propose that the following character sequence for joke markers:

:-)

Read it sideways. Actually, it is probably more economical to mark
things that are NOT jokes, given current trends. For this, use

:-(

++
if yer a dork like me, you can read the entire thread here:

http://research.microsoft.com/~mbj/Smiley/Joke_Thread.html

it's kind of cool to read the thread (the smiley post is mercifully
near the top) because you have people proposing joke markers
(example: \_/ ) and then this one comes along and people just start
using it, it caught on organically. the thread is dead boring tho,
people selling carpet and planning picnics and etc.

–
<twhid>
http://www.mteww.com
</twhid>