"Scott Fahlman, the scientist from Carnegie Mellon University in the US, launched the first emoticon into cyberspace. He posted it on an electronic message board 25 years ago and it's been popping up on computer screens and mobile phones ever since.
"Fahlman's scientific work focuses on how word patterns are formed in the brain so it's not surprising that the first smiley he sent was an attempt to make electronic communication simpler and clearer.
... "Fahlman invented three smilies - the funny one, a frowning :-( version with down-turned mouth, and the winking ;-) smiley. It didn't take long before other creative minds produced a smiley wearing glasses, a Santa Claus smiley and even an Abraham Lincoln smiley.
... "Fahlman was the first to give the smile an electronic twist. Thanks to him millions of people do just that as they lean over to read the sideways smiling face. And from that angle the whole world looks pretty funny. "
BY Peter McClelland (STM p10, 7th October, 2007)
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