Back in 1698, Tsar Peter I (aka Peter the Great), established some ground rules for his kingdom. The first was that all men should immediately shave. When that got some pushback, then he relented and told all men sporting a beard, that they had to pay tax on it.

The reason for this was actually quite strange. At the time, Russia was still a little backwards and he had visited other European countries and saw how modern they were, and assumed being bare-faced was one of the reasons.

Boy, was he wrong. Beards are the future.