Today is World Smile Day
World Smile Day is celebrated on the first Friday in the month of October every year.
The idea of World Smile Day was coined and initiated by Harvey Ball, a commercial artist from Worcester, Massachusetts.
Harvey Ball is known to have created the Smiley Face in 1963. That image went on to become the most recognizable symbol of good will and good cheer on the planet. As the years passed Harvey Ball became concerned about the over-commercialization of his symbol, and how its original meaning and intent had become lost in the constant repetition of the marketplace. Out of that concern came his idea for World Smile Day. He thought that we, all of us, should devote one day each year to smiles and kind acts throughout the world. The smiley face knows no politics, no geography and no religion. He declared that the first Friday in October each year would henceforth be World Smile Day. The World's first World Smile Day was held in the year 1999 and has been held annually since.
After Harvey died in 2001, the "Harvey Ball World Smile Foundation" was created to honor his name and memory. The slogan of the Smile Foundation is "improving this world, one smile at a time." The Foundation continues as the official sponsor of World Smile Day each year.