World Emoji Day 2021 – Date, History, Facts, Activities

Before you begin reading this article, have a look at your recently used social media platform- be it WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or anything else. It is for sure that you might have used at least a few emojis along with your text in them! That is a universal truth. People all over the world use emojis as an easier way to convey their messages. And of course! The smile that these little digital images bring on our faces is unmatched to any! Keeping all the fun facts and our love for emojis apart, did you ever know that there is an unofficial holiday to celebrate emojis? Yes Folks! World Emoji Day falls on 17th July every year. Here, we bring to you some amazing facts about World Emoji Day. So, let’s get going!

What is an Emoji ?

The word “Emoji” comes from the Japanese term 絵 (e- picture),  文 (mo-write) and  字 (ji-character). This might sound complex to you. So, in simple terms, let us make it clear. An emoji is basically the pictograms, logograms, ideograms and  smileys that are used in various electronic messaging formats as well as web pages. To further simplify it for you, an emoji is a tiny digital symbol or icon that is widely used to express an idea or an emotion. It comes in a variety of shapes, forms and colours. However, the idea behind all of it is to ease the conveying of messages.

In this modern era, when most of the talking has converted to texting, it is important for the people to convey their messages without getting assumed in a wrong way. So, in such a context, an Emoji is the ultimate life saver to any. When you add a few appropriate emoji to your text messages or in your web pages, it automatically lifts the readability level. Also, it comes as a stress buster and helps in making your conversations hearty and lighter.

Click Here for GK Notes on Various Topics!

Why July 17 ?

By now, you already know that World Emoji Day is a casual holiday celebrated worldwide to encourage the usage of emoji. Furthermore, it aims to escalate the happiness and joy that emojis bring along.

The decision to select World Emoji Day as on July 17th is actually a fun story. As we have commonly noticed, the calendar emoji shows the date 17th of July in almost every platform. Hence, people worldwide began to observe July 17 as the World Emoji Day! Now this is a pleasant story of origin! 

However, the emoji day is to celebrate every single emoji that is alive and not just the calendar emoji. Without a doubt, this brings joy to millions of die hard emoji fans throughout the globe!

History & Origin of Emoji

Needless to say, emojis comprise a huge part of present day communication. They serve as a means of picture based communication which usually takes up a huge part in our daily conversations. 

History 

It is well known that emojis were not invented spontaneously by any one. There are a series of valid events in history that  lead to the formation of Emojis.

• In the year 1862, an unusual event took place in history when “The New York Times” misprinted a transcribed copy of President Abraham Lincoln’s speech. 🙂 was used instead of a word which was then referred to as a ‘Great Mistake’. However, this great mistake later made way for the origin of Emojis.
• In the year 1881, an American Magazine called “Puck” made the first international use of emoticons. This truly was a breakthrough back then.
• More than a century later, in 1997, Buddy Icons were introduced by AIM. These were the small images or icons used to convey feelings.

Origin

Emoji as we know now, was first created by a Japanese Engineer called Shigetaka Kurita in 1999. The story goes like this- 

Shigetaka Kurita was an employee in a mobile company named NTT Docomo. As the company was working on a new project to develop a brand new internet platform, it was found that only a few characters could be inserted in it. It was then that he came up with the idea of using pictures instead of words. By doing so, people could communicate lengthy messages using limited data itself. Thus, the emojis came into being as it is known and accepted worldwide today.

Emoticon Vs Emoji

Even though, in recent years, it is widely seen that the words ‘Emoticon’ and ‘Emoji’ are used interchangeably, both of these are entirely different. So, let us first understand the major differences between these two.

Emoticons are older than Emoji in terms of the usage. Emoticons are nothing but punctuation marks, numbers or even letters that are used to create pictorial icons. The icons so created generally represent a feeling or an emotion. It was accidentally discovered in 1982 by Dr. Scott E. Fahlman. The first emoticons to be used were the smiley face 🙂 and the frowning face 🙁 . Later on, it gained immense popularity and was used widely until emojis were discovered.

An Emoji is a newer and modern version of an emoticon that uses graphics and digital medium to convey feelings and emotions in a better way. It was discovered only in 1999 by  Shigetaka Kurita. The first ever used emoji was a simple 12 pixels by 12 pixels one. Later it evolved into different forms that we see today.

Attempt a Free Mock Test to improve your GK! Click Here!

Some Interesting Emoji Facts

• The first ever World Emoji Day was celebrated in 2014 on July 17.
• The most popular emoji had been the “Face with Tears of Joy” for years. It is so widely popular amongst the users that no one emoji was able to replace it.
• Rarest or the least used emoji is the “ABCD emoji” which is known to be the input symbol for latin letters.
• The emoji dictionary is ever growing. It is the fastest growing language in the world.
• As of now, there are more than 3000 recognized emojis.
• Astonishing but true, that men and women use different kinds of emojis.
• In 2015, the Oxford Dictionary named “emoji” as the word of the year.
• The Unicode Consortium is the only organization that has, at present, the right to approve the emojis added year after year.
• The most commonly used food emojis are the birthday cake emoji and the pizza emoji.
• Emoji is currently asserted by linguists all over the world  as a true Universal language!

Ace your Exam Preparation with Entri! Download the App Now!

Possible Activities on World Emoji Day

Being an unofficial celebration throughout the different countries of the world, this day can be celebrated to bring out happiness amongst the different kinds of people- be it old or young. Here, we will list some of the possible activities that can bring utmost joy to the lives of people. After all, only these little moments of joy keep our life going amidst the tough times!

Join Virtual Events

Each year, since it was first celebrated, the World Emoji Day is marked with various events online. This takes place on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc to spread the joy. This year also, many programs are held across these platforms. All you have to do is participate in them and post it on social media along with the hashtag of #WorldEmojiDay.

Vote for your Favorite Emoji

Every year, emoji awards are given out to various titles. Some of the most common awards presented to Emoji are “Most Popular Emoji”, “Rarest Emoji”, “Most anticipated emoji”, etc. In order to participate in the election, all you have to do is log in to www.worldemojiawards.com and cast your vote!

Take up an “Emoji Only” challenge

Now this might seem strange to you! But we promise, this will be a really fun activity to do with your loved ones! Take up the challenge to communicate only by using emoji for a particular day. And see how beautifully it goes. Enjoy!

Bake anything ‘emoji’

So, now, this is the ultimate comfort activity for those who love to cook. Pick up your most favorite emoji and try to recreate it by baking. Go for a cake,cupcake,cookies, brownies or whatever you feel like. And eventually indulge and treat yourself with those delicious treats. But, don’t forget to post a picture of the same on social media with the world emoji day hashtag!

Emoji Party

Why not, have some fun by partying on this day! Host an Emoji party for your peers and friends. DO encourage them to dress up like any emoji that they wish! Go, Have some fun!

Create your own Emoji

As the emoji trend is forever increasing, why not try to create a new emoji, if you love to design? This will be a great idea to explore the unseen side of yourself. Try to create a new emoji based on your observation of the surroundings and the relevance in the present scenario. And imagine! What if it gets widely accepted!? Woohoo!

Emoji Anthem Challenge

The Emoji Anthem written by Jonathan Mann is widely popular on the internet. Take up a challenge to sing it joyously and record a video of the same.

Click here for notes on Static GK!

World Emoji Day Dates

With each passing year, world emoji day is getting widespread acceptance. Its popularity is on the rise. So, here is a table that will help you to track the dates of world emoji day for the upcoming years. Have a look.

World Emoji Day Quotes 

Emoji is a means to brighten up any day. Also it serves as a faster means to convey feelings to one another. On this World Emoji Day, make sure to wish your friends and family with some heart-warming quotes. We have added a list of World Emoji Day Quotes here. Check it out!

• “My emoji vocabulary is pretty limited to, like, the smiling poop and the rainbow and a unicorn or something.” – Bob Morley
• Oceans of emotion can be transmitted through a text message, an emoji sequence, and a winking semicolon, but humans are hardwired to respond to visuals. – Jenna Wortham
• ‘LOL’ is one of several texting expressions that convey nuance in a system where you don’t have the voice and face to do it the way you normally would.  – John McWhorter
• “People are hard-pressed for time but they do need to communicate. Emojis are here to help and make it smooth.” – John McWhorter
•  “I am emoji-heavy as hell. I would use the same emoji 140 times just to communicate how excited I am.” – Frankie Grande

World Emoji Day Messages & Wishes

Confused about how to wish your loved ones on World Emoji Day? We have a few messages and wishes stacked up here for our readers!

• Words may ruin the relationship and express a lot while emojis can help maintain the balance while reflecting that you have affections! Tricky but true. Happy world emoji day.
• When words fail to say it all, when your voice cannot reach the people you love, emojis help you say it all…. Warm wishes on World Emoji Day
• Keep calm and use emojis as much as you want! They are free!!!!
• We smile, they smile. We cry, they cry. They are our dearest emojis. Happy world emoji day
• When you run out of words, emojis come to the rescue! Happy world emoji day.

Let’s Wrap Up

An emoji is the tiny, little feature that has now become an integral part of our daily life. There is not even a day that passes without using at least one emoji. It brings ease of communication and sometimes emoji usage is all about pure joy. So, here’s wishing everyone out there, a fun filled World Emoji Day!

Download Entri & Ace your Exam preparation!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)