Did a 17th century Slovakian lawyer invent the smiley face and the hashtag?
Curators find the 'world's first emoji' in a 382-year-old memo. Researchers are claiming to have found the world's oldest emoji - a 382-year-old smiley face. Officially created in the 1980's
as a form of expressing digital emotion, about six billion emojis are sent around the world every day. And now curators from the National Archives in Trencin, Slovakia believe they have found the origins of the ever-growing trend - and he might even have coined the hashtag. The evidence suggests the inventor of the iconic smiley face is a lawyer by the name of Jan Ladislaides.
Head of the archive in Trencin Peter Brindza said: 'We found a smiley face, which dates from the 17th century - from 1635 - by notary Jan Ladislaides next to his signature.' The hand-drawn smiley face emoji appears after a passage where Ladislaides had checked several municipal accounts.
He states that he had no objections or problems, and the smiley face indicates he was happy with the documents.
There also appears to be a clown's finger with a hashtag drawn on it, though the context is unclear.
Mr Brindza said hive was hugely surprised by his exceptional find and said: 'In contemporary writings, of course, it is not a common thing.
'I do not know if it's the oldest Slovakian smiley or the world's oldest, but it is certainly one of the oldest in the Trencin region.'
