1982On September 19, 1982, computer scientist Scott Fahlman typed :-) in an online message to his colleagues at Carnegie Mellon University, thus creating the first known instance of a smiley emoticon. Fahlman proposed the use of emoticons as a way of indicating humor or sarcasm in text-based online communication, which could otherwise be easily misunderstood. The idea quickly caught on and the use of emoticons, and later emojis, has since become ubiquitous in online communication across various platforms and devices. Fahlman's innovation has not only helped to improve the clarity of online communication, but has also become a cultural phenomenon in its own right.