Green Smiley with Eyelashes

Illustraiton of a smiling face with eyelashes and eyebrows on a green background

Smiles go back before humans could verbally express themselves and are thought by some scientists to be bad mood remedies. Humans noticed that Monkeys, displaying their fun and happiness, did so by smiling and began moving their mouth muscles upward more, becoming what we know as smiling, an involuntary expression from the common grimace, taking more effort to turn that frown into a smile. Smiles are also forms of congenial socializing gestures, whereas grimacing can be associated with asocial behavior in most cultures. The smile has come a long way, as it has evolved into a rave called Smileys. The first smiley documented is from a 1741 notation by Bernard Hennet, who from what is now considered the Czech Republic, thought a smiley might round out his autograph best. Before the digital age, smileys were popular and worn as buttons; today they are synonymous with emojis and emoticons, which are used as a form of cyber communication to convey a fleeting moment of emotion. Smiles, smileys, emojis or emoticons, invoke a feel-good factor to most and remain a popular iconic symbol in cultures today.