:-)

How could I not take note of the fact that the smiley turned 25 today?

[Carnegie Mellon professor Scott E.] Fahlman posted the emoticon in a message to an online electronic bulletin board at 11:44 a.m. on Sept. 19, 1982, during a discussion about the limits of online humor and how to denote comments meant to be taken lightly.

“I propose the following character sequence for joke markers: :-),” wrote Fahlman. “Read it sideways.”

And it caught on like wildfire. Remarkable that we can trace it back to this point. (Or maybe this story will roust a prior inventor out of obscurity.)