They do mention that in the article: "Fahlman also readily admits that he did not invent the emoticon all on his own. There’s evidence that both the idea, and

They do mention that in the article: "Fahlman also readily admits that he did not invent the emoticon all on his own. There’s evidence that both the idea, and the thing itself, existed prior to his office antics. A century ago, copy-setters at a satirical magazine jokingly created typographical “studies in passion and emotions” designed to look like faces. Fahlman only credits himself for the smiley’s “turn your head to one side principle” and its particular colon-hyphen-parenthesis combination of characters."