The Most Iconic Kisses of All Time

What's in a kiss? These smooching milestones will inspire you to pucker up.


A.D. 300: The original Breathalyzer 
Roman husbands kissed their wives when they came home from work, not as an ancient version of "Hi, honey; I'm home" but rather to determine whether the missus had been hitting the bottle during the day.
1590s: Romeo Dies with a Kiss
The first known performance of Shakespeare's famous play concludes with the lip-locked demise of two star-crossed lovers.
1763: Kissing gets X-ed 
Kissing is first symbolized by the letter x, as in xoxo.
1896: First Movie Kiss 
The first on-screen smooch happened between John Rice and May Irwin in the movie The Kiss. This less-than-a-minute film was shown during the closing scene of the Broadway play The Widow Jones and caused outrage at the time.
1907: Invention of the Hershey's Kiss 
It's rumored that the candy was named after the sound the machine made as it dropped the chocolate onto the conveyor belt.
1923: The French Kiss Catches On 
When British and American women got wind of this sensual kissing style, they soon dubbed it the "French kiss," intended as a slander toward their oversexed European sisters. But it didn't take them long to realize that French women were on to something good.
1937: Prince Charming Awakens Snow White
Take one princess who's the fairest in the land plus one Prince Charming, and you have the classic Disney love story.
1945: Life Magazine Sweeps Us off Our Feet 
Its famous cover photo of a sailor kissing a nurse on the street became an iconic image of true romance.
1990: Most Kisses per Minute
Alfred Wolfram kissed 8,001 people in eight hours (that's more than 16 people a minute!) at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival.
2004: The World's Longest Kiss 
A couple in Italy, Andrea Sarti and Anna Chen, set the record on Valentine's Day after locking lips for 31 hours, 18 minutes, and 33 seconds. They beat the record held by Americans Rich Langley and Louisa Almedovar, who kissed for 30 hours and 59 minutes in 2001. Andrea required oxygen treatment after the kiss.

You Kiss Your Guy — Right Now! 
Make a little history of your own.