10 things you didn't know about emoticons

I've recently written a short play for the Museum for the Future of the History of the Book - an if:book project for schools - and gave myself a headache trying to zone out and imagine literature of the future, more precisely, the next 1,000 years.

I found myself looking back at hieroglyphics and realising that this was possibly the way forward (backward, if you get what I mean!).

This nifty little link somewhat bridges the gap between the ancient art of hieroglyphics and the 'modern' trend for emoticons. According to this piece, the first emoticons were published on March 30, 1881 by (the now defunct) US satirical magazine Puck.

http://www.neatorama.com/2009/05/05/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-emoticons/