Beards. They come long and short, bushy and trimmed. They have been dictated by fashion, religion and politics. In ancient Egypt, a beard was a sign of power and privilege and false beards were worn by queens, as well as kings. Over the centuries, facial hair went in and out of fashion. While beards were left to grow exceedingly long in 15th-century Europe, by the 17th century they had lost favor in the west. On this date in 1698, Peter the Great began to show official opposition to facial hair on Russian men in a process that eventually ended in a tax being levied on beards. All men except priests and peasants paid a yearly tax of one hundred rubles; commoners paid one kopek each.
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