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posted by Jason Kottke  ·  gift link

The sideways smiley was first used on

The sideways smiley was first used on Sept 19, 1982. Here’s the original message and resulting thread..

Reader comments

Stefan JonesMar 17, 2004 at 1:34PM

This guy gave the "Living in Pittsburgh" orientation at CMU.

All I recall of his introduction: He didn't like "froggy smileys" :)

NickMar 17, 2004 at 1:38PM

Ahh, back in the day when programmers still referred to "subroutines"...nice find.

bingMar 17, 2004 at 2:44PM

So what does happen to a candle or a drop of mercury in a falling elevator?

wyattMar 17, 2004 at 8:35PM

hah, neeto...smilies are exactly 2 years older than I :-)

BiologicShowMar 19, 2004 at 1:43PM

If pigeons are breathing helium, I want to know about it.

This thread is closed to new comments. Thanks to everyone who responded.