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Updated July 17th, 2019 at 15:47 IST

World Emoji Day 2019: Six fun facts about emojis you probably didn't know

World Emoji Day 2019: we have mentioned a few facts about emojis that you probably didn't know

Reported by: Tanmay Patange
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Emojis have become an integral part of our online communication and social networking over apps like Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, etc. In fact, there are so many other apps out there that see the maximum usage of emojis while interacting with users. We realise the importance and significance of emojis this World Emoji Day. In this article, we have mentioned a few facts about emojis that you probably didn't know. Let's take a look.

Origin of the word "Emoji"

The word emoji is a combination of Japanese terms e (means picture) and moji (means character). They together form a word 'Emoji,' which coincidentally resembles English words emotion and emoticon. The original meaning of the word emoji is pictograph.

The first emoji was created in 1999

You probably don't know much about its invention, do you? Well, to give you a sort of (not so boring) history lesson, the first-ever emoji was created in 1999 by a Japanese interface designer Shigetaka Kurita who is better known as the inventor of the emoji. 20 years ago, Kurita designed a set of 176 emojis using a grid of 12x12 pixels while working as a designer for NTT DoCoMo that later went on to become a global trend.

July 17 is celebrated as World Emoji Day

READ | World Emoji Day 2019: New emoji surfaces including sari and interracial couples, to hit your screens this year

Every year, July 17 is celebrated as World Emoji Day and for a reason! Calendar emoji on Apple products always display the date July 17, which led some users to initially nickname July 17 "World Emoji Day." The concept of World Emoji Day was born, thanks to Jeremy Burge, founder of Emojipedia.

The cultural influence of emoji

In 2015, oxford Dictionaries named 'Face With Tears of Joy' emoji as Word of the Year. Recognising the impact of emojis on popular culture, Oxford also noted the use of the word "emoji" had increased in the year 2015.

Emojis for modern causes

Did you know? Following Tinder’s campaign, Unicode Consortium added a set of interracial couples emoji that will finally release later this year. Last year, the dating app started a petition to have a diverse set of emoji added. Tinder's petition reached more than 50,000 signatures.

The Emoji Movie was released in 2017

Yes, There was a whole movie called 'Emoji Movie' inspired by emojis which was released in 2017! It was directed by Tony Leondis and written by Leondis, Eric Siegel and Mike White. The movie was an animated film that was based on emojis used on the internet. The film grossed $217 million worldwide.

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Published July 17th, 2019 at 15:47 IST

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