# When did smile=happy first happen?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-smile-happy-first-happen/172141>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 30, 2003, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-smile-happy-first-happen/172141 "2003-04-30T13:38:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-smile-happy-first-happen/172141/1 "2003-04-30T13:38:48Z")

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A muscular contortion of the face is the universal signal for pleasure and happiness. When was this set in stone, and why wasn’t it the ☹ instead of the 🙂 ? Showing one’s teeth would seen aggrresive from an animal standpoint.

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**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-smile-happy-first-happen/172141/2 "2003-04-30T14:06:45Z")

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See this thread:

[Why Do Human Beings Smile?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=180815)