It might be hugely popular today with those writing e-mails, chatting via instant message windows, sending phone texts, or consumed by social networking habits, but the ‘colon-hyphen-parenthesis’ smiley face has actually been around for rather a long time – 25 years in fact.

Specifically, Scott E. Fahlman, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, has laid claim to being the world’s first person to ever utilise the ‘smiley face’ form of communication, when he added it to a computer message way back in 1982, reports the Associated Press.

“I propose the following character sequence for joke markers:

– wrote Fahlman in creating the world’s first emoticon, “Read it sideways.” Fahlman’s original smiley face was posted to an online electronic bulletin board on September 19, 1982, which was discussing the restrictions of online humour and how to easily discern the true meaning of light-hearted comments.

How time flies when you’re having fun.