World Smile Day is Oct. 2: the story behind the smiley face

Today, Friday, October 2, is World Smile Day. It is observed on the first Friday of October each year, and it has an unusual origin story tied to one of the most familiar images in the world.

The yellow smiley face was designed in 1963 by Harvey Ball, a commercial artist from Worcester, Massachusetts. Over the following decades, the design spread onto buttons, shirts, mugs and countless other products. According to Awareness Days, Ball came to feel that his creation had become overly commercialized and had lost its original meaning.

So in 1999 he started World Smile Day, a day set aside for real smiles and acts of kindness rather than merchandise. The Harvey Ball World Smile Foundation continues to promote the day and its focus on simple, kind gestures in communities.

There is something fitting about a day like this landing on a Friday. Many people are tired by the end of the week, and small courtesies, such as holding a door, thanking a cashier by name or letting someone merge in traffic, are noticed more than we might expect.

When you wake up later today, try making the first person you see smile, whether that is someone in your home, a coworker or the barista. It is a small way to mark the day the way its creator intended.