Smiley :) :D ;)

I always use Smiley faces in every sms I send and in most of the mails I send. My husband has made it a trademark to sign his name on any greeting cards with a smiley. But does everyone know the origin of this  this popular yellow color smiley face with 2 eyes and a wide smile?  Read on for more information about it.
The Smiley Face was created by Harvey Richard Ball, a commercial artist from Worcester, Massachusetts in 1963 for a friendship campaign undertaken to ease the acrimony between the workers of two insurance companies following their merger. It was used in buttons, desk cards and posters and became a big hit. But Harvey Ball never applied for trademark or copyright of his work and earned just 45$ for his work!

You can read more about it here and here.

Harvey Ball posing with his creation. Photographer: Michael Carroll

Harvey Ball: “Never in the history of mankind or art has any single piece of art gotten such widespread favor, pleasure, enjoyment, and nothing has ever been so simply done and so easily understood in art.”

In 1999, he started the World Smile Day  :). Since then it is celebrated on the 1st Friday of every October  in his hometown Worcester and all over the world. The idea is that for atleast one day each year, everyone should forget politics, geography and religion and devote their day to smiles and acts of kindness.

"Do an act of kindness. Help one person smile"!

After his death in 2001, the "Harvey Ball World Smile Foundation" was created to honour his name and memory. The slogan of the Smile Foundation is "improving this world, one smile at a time." The Foundation continues as the official sponsor of World Smile Day each year.