• Cave drawing from as early as 10,000 BC depict both men with clean-shaven faces and those with short beards.
  • Ancient Egyptian barbers regularly shaved their clients with razors and pumice stones, as a beard was considered an indication of personal neglect.
  • The straight cut-throat blade was introduced in the Middle Ages.
  • Alexander the Great observed that beards could be easily grabbed by the enemy during battle and insisted his troops fight with clean-shaven faces.
  • Peter the Great of Russia imposed a tax on beards, which was collected at every town gate.