12 facts about beards you probably didn’t know – This will shock you!

5. There Used to Be a Beard Tax

During the 17^th century in Russia, men who wanted to wear beards had to pay 100 rubles a year. Obviously, this was just a way for the government to find a way to get more money from its people. It’s a shame that men were punished just for having beards, but when you want to have a thriving economy, you’ve got to find ways to be creative. As a consolation prize, these men were issued a medallion that said “the beard is a useless burden.” Luckily, all the beard hate has died down for the most part, but you still see a lot of clean-shaven Russian guys these days.