World Smile Day celebrates the simple and powerful act of smiling as a means of spreading kindness and positivity. The focus of this observance is to encourage people to engage in acts of compassion and promote happiness by sharing smiles with others. The intention behind World Smile Day is to highlight the significance of bridges of understanding that a simple smile can create, transcending cultural, linguistic, and geographical barriers.
The origins of World Smile Day can be traced back to commercial artist Harvey Ball, who created the iconic yellow smiley face in 1963. Initially intended as a cheerful symbol for an insurance company's internal morale-boosting campaign, the smiley face soon became a cultural phenomenon and an enduring symbol of happiness. In 1999, Ball established World Smile Day to remind people of the profound value and impact of smiles in fostering goodwill and human connection. This observance holds particular significance for Americans, as the smiley face is a widely recognized symbol of American popular culture and has inspired countless imitations and variations, including the use of emojis in digital communication.
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