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Today is World Kissing Day
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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Today, anyone can "exchange their souls" with full rights - July 6 is World Kiss Day (or World/International Kissing Day), which was first invented in Great Britain. And two decades ago it was approved by the United Nations. In many cities on this day, various kissing competitions are held, the participants of which have a chance to win various prizes and gifts.
How did the kiss come about? Most knowledgeable people claim that the authorship of the first kiss is unknown. It was not invented like electricity or the telephone. It was not named after the person who first put his lips together and then immediately parted them with a characteristic sound, leaving a wet imprint on his girlfriend's cheek.
Yes, in general, it is not so important where the word denoting this action came from. It is much more interesting to find out why the action itself appeared, but on this account, anthropologists, historians and philosophers still do not agree. There are a great many theories.
Why do people kiss? First, because it is instilled in culture. Almost all over the world, people, when they find themselves in a romantic situation, feel an unconscious need to kiss. It seems that members of the opposite sex are programmed to kiss and only wait for this. If you understand this, you will get more kisses and enjoy them.
This program operates day after day. People see actors kissing on TV, in movies and in commercials, they are told that their friends are kissing this or that, they see people kissing on the street. As a result, in certain situations, a kiss is perceived as an obligatory component. Therefore, in a romantic situation, a subconscious stereotype comes into play, and people feel an almost irresistible desire to kiss, regardless of whether they really want it or not.
Famous kissers:
An American named A. E. Wolfram from Minnesota kissed 8,001 people in 8 hours on September 15, 1990, during a festival held in his state. Thus, he managed to kiss a new person every 3.6 seconds.
First on-screen kiss: 1896. Captured by May Irwin and John C. Rice in Thomas Edison's 30-second commercial titled "The Kiss."
The most kiss-filled film: Don Juan (1926, Warner Bros. Pictures). It featured 191 kisses.
Longest kiss in film history: Regis Toomey and Jane Wyman kissed for 185 seconds in You're in the Army Now (1940), which takes up 4% of the film's entire running time.