I must correct the first sentence in this article: "The origin of these small, amiable creatures is unknown.". Refer to the obituary of the original designer and the many related links there.

In December, 1963, Harvey Ball was asked to design a button to be given to employees of a Worcester-based insurance company in an effort to improve morale. He came up with a bright yellow smiling face, never copyrighted or trademarked it, and was paid $45 for the design.

The smiley took off, became an international phenomenon, and Harvey remained a simple man. He later founded the World Smile Corporation to raise money for charity by selling a unique signed version of the smiley face . All revenue from these sales goes to charity.
In the 70's, as PC's became more affordable and modems brought people together on individual and networked BBS's and the Internet, various smiles :> became as common in online chat and messages as "LOL" and "AFK." With increased computer and modem speeds, graphic smileys such as we now enjoy at h2g2 have also become commonplace.

Harvey never thought that "smiley" would go so far. However, over time he came to realize that "smiley" reflects what is inside every one of us - it is what we want to see when we look at another human being. "Smiley" transcends differences in age color, geography, politics, and religion. Never in the history of mankind has a piece of art, so simple and with such a positive message, reached so many people.

Harvey Ball died on April 12, 2001. [Click for video]

[Click here for the Smiley Face Song performed by Plainfolk]