Beards are a much-loved extension of men’s bodies. They are treasured and appreciated even by family and friends. (If you don’t believe us, just watch these babies crying for their daddys’ lost beards.)
This fascination seems to explain the proliferation of some weird and wonderful beard facts and trivia. Today, we’re sharing our favorite beard trivia with you.
- Are you a hardcore beard-loving person? Then you should know that you’re called a pogonophile. And those poor souls how have a phobia for it have a condition called – you guessed it! – pogonophobia.
- The title of Living Man with the Longest Beard belongs to Shamsher Singh of Punjab, India. In 1997, it was 1.83 meters or 6 feet long. Makes you wonder just how much beard oil he uses in one lifetime.
- Peter the Great taxed beards. He made it so that bearded citizens had to pay 100 rubles a year in exchange for a medallion which served as a license of sorts during those times. Peter the Great promoted clean-shaveness which is probably why the medallion has the inscription, “The beard is a useless burden.”
- Your beard can protect you from cancer. According to a study by the University of Southern Queensland, a beard can block from 90-95 percent of the sun’s harmful ultraviolet radiation rays. The longer the beard, the better protection it is.
- In the early Sixties, the CIA had a plan to sneak in thallium salts into the shoes of Fidel Castro. Thallium salts act as hair remover and the objective was to make Fidel Castro’s beard (and his popularity) fall out. This sneaky plan never came to fruition though as evidenced by Castro’s full beard.
- In a stack of playing cards, the only king to NOT sport a moustache or beard is the King of Hearts. (Don’t you wonder why that is?)
- Kings, queens, and royal cows wore “postiches”, fake metal beards, as symbols of sovereignty during special events like a solar eclipse.
- Increased sexual activity will make your beard grow longer faster. Sex (and the anticipation for it) increases testosterone levels. These T-levels are responsible for beard growth.
- A couple of weeks before the first US president Abraham Lincoln was to make his win, he received a letter from 11 year old Grace Bedell. The little girl encouraged him to grow a beard so that people would elect him. She wrote, “You would look a great deal better, for your face is so thin.” And the rest is history.
- Men and women prefer alpha males who sport beards, according to a study by the University of Queensland in Australia. Women found men with heavy stubbles sexy while men with light stubbles were good for one-night stands.