CNN.com -- :-) turns 25

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (AP) -- It was a serious contribution to the electronic lexicon.

Carnegie Mellon professor Scott E. Fahlman was the first to use the :-) in a computer message.

:-)

Twenty-five years ago, Carnegie Mellon University professor Scott E. Fahlman says, he was the first to use three keystrokes -- a colon followed by a hyphen and a parenthesis -- as a horizontal "smiley face" in a computer message.