Celebrating World Smile Day

Get ready to say cheese! Friday October 2, 2020 was World Smile Day. If you've never heard of this holiday, your finger is clearly not on the pulse of Worcester, Massachusetts. You've likely used a smile emoji recently, though, and that yellow symbol of happiness is how the whole thing started.

For any special occasion or regular day of the week, GLO Science is committed to helping everyone smile more brightly with the best teeth whitening products that were invented by a practicing dentist. That makes us official supporters of spreading the World Smile Day message. Here's everything you need to know to celebrate this lovely holiday.

What is World Smile Day?

This day was dreamed up by the man who technically invented the smile emoji. The funny part about it is that he created the yellow circle with two dots for eyes and a curved line for a mouth in 1963, long before the internet was a thing. Even without Facebook, home computers or cell phones, Smiley - as Harvey Ball called his brainchild - quickly became wildly popular. By the time the World Wide Web took us all into the virtual world, there were hundreds of iterations of Smiley with facial hair, glasses and myriad expressions of emotion.

By 1999, Mr. Ball was dismayed at the broad use of the symbol, which could potentially dilute the original meaning of his benevolent creation. So he declared that World Smile Day would be an annual celebration of his purest intentions: making more people smile.

The Harvey Ball World Smile Foundation was created when Ball died in 2001 to honor his memory and his wish for more kindness in the world. The foundation is the official sponsor of World Smile Day, and its motto reflects Ball's insistence that this holiday is not about geography, politics or religion: "Do an act of kindness. Help one person smile!"

World Smile Day Facts

• Harvey Ball invented the smiley face in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1963.
• The first World Smile Day was held on October 1, 1999, in Harvey Ball and Smiley's hometown.
• Smiley has appeared in the blockbuster movie "Forrest Gump" and the graphic novel "Watchmen."
• Of the Top 10 most used emojis on the internet, seven of them are some variation of Ball's smiley face.
• There are at least 156 different versions of smiley face emojis available for digital use.
• When humans smile, our brains produce endorphins, neurotransmitters that cause feelings of happiness and pleasure.
• Human babies are born with the innate ability to smile.

Six Ways to Celebrate World Smile Day:

Celebrating World Smile Day is easier than you'd think. Even amid a pandemic with social distancing and mask requirements, a smile is still the universal symbol of connection, and a smile says a lot about who you are. This year is a particularly important time to think about kindness and helping others.

As you're perfecting your "smeyes" while masking up in public, consider these other ways of making the world a little brighter on this year's World Smile Day.

1. Perform Acts of Kindness. The easiest way to celebrate this holiday is to do something nice for another person. Pay it forward by buying coffee for the car behind you at the drive-thru window. Hold the door open for the person walking in behind you. Tip the food delivery person an extra few dollars.

2. Become a World Smile Day Ambassador. People who go the extra mile to organize events or celebrations in their community gain the title World Smile Day Ambassadors. These go-getters can be any age, nationality or gender. The only requirement is a drive to promote the holiday and spread happiness. The World Smile Day Foundation makes official ambassador stickers and buttons available to download, but you can also make your own posters, cards, banners and sashes to help commemorate and honor those who go above and beyond to elicit smiles.

3. Do Something to Make Your Heart Smile. It's easy to get bogged down in the worries and responsibilities of everyday life. Take this opportunity to do something that makes you smile from the inside out. Fun ideas for World Smile Day activities for children include singing a silly song, dancing down the sidewalk, turning cartwheels in a field, drawing Smiley faces with crayons and creating smile-filled chalk art on the driveway. Whatever gets you and your family smiling is a great place to start.

4. Organize a World Smile Day Event.With social distancing in mind, a group or community event can inspire lots of smiles. We've all become adept at online forums like Zoom and Google Chat, so get together with family and friends for a virtual smile-fest where the only goal is to make each other grin. Use fabric pens to draw smiles on fabric or disposable masks, then parade your neighborhood in smiling formation.

5. Send a World Smile Day message to someone you love. Skip the texting and send a more meaningful message with a card in the mail or a delivery of flowers to someone who needs a lift. Better yet, send someone important in your life the gift of a brighter smile and better oral hygiene. When we know that our teeth are white and our gums are healthy, we're more likely to smile easily.

6. Take Care of Your Pearly Whites. Making the world a happier, smiley-er place begins with you. When you choose cruelty-free, FDA-registered safe home teeth whitening ingredients, you're committing to the self-care of a healthier smile. Give yourself the gift of effective, fast teeth whitening that was invented by a practicing dentist, then make every day World Smile Day with your brilliant grin.

Resources:

https://www.worldsmileday.com/
https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2020/07/17/top-list-most-used-emoji-on-this-world-emoji-day/
https://nationaltoday.com/world-smile-day/
https://unicode.org/emoji/charts/emoji-counts.html