They Say A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words. There are Nearly Two Million Of These.

Welcome to July 17th, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate wearable art and emotional icons. 

For many people around the world, tattoos are merely skin art. But to the Maori of New Zealand, tattoos are an important cultural ritual, with roots in their mythology. According to legend, Rangi was the god of the sky and Papa was the goddess of the earth. When they were separated, their son Ruamoko went to live with his mother. In his sadness, he tossed and turned, shaking the earth above him. And he became known as the god of earthquakes. So, you’re thinking, what does this have to do with tattoos? Well, Ruamoko’s earthquakes split and cracked the ground, leaving scars and fissures on his mother’s skin. Which became the very first tattoos. On National Tattoo Day, celebrate your own pictorial history even if it’s only the temporary kind.

Like it or not, our teenagers are influencers. That’s why a Japanese programmer created emoticons in 1990 to appeal to teens.  When Apple released the first iPhone in 2007, they added the emoji keyboard to grab the attention of the Japanese market.   But the picture words took off around the globe. Who knew that a simple text could become so misinterpreted out of context?  Emojis to the rescue.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and today there are over 1800 of them listed on emojipedia.org.  That’s nearly 2 million ways to bridge the generation gap.  On World Emoji Day celebrate the cute little characters who have taken on a life of their own! 

I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson.  Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day.