Happy 25th Anniversary to Smiley Face Emoticon

"Things you won't find on bookofjoe: emoticons."

So what gives?

Have you ever heard of the exception that proves the rule?

That's what you're reading.

Long story short: Precisely 25 years ago today — at 11:44 a.m. Eastern Time on September 19, 1982 — Carnegie Mellon University professor Scott Fahlman posted the following message on an electronic bulletin board: "I propose the following character sequence for joke markers: :-). Read it sideways."

And so it began.

You could look it up.