En Face; Beards and Their History Quiz

Answer: The beard symbolized a connection to the gods

The Egyptians believed that the gods all wore beards, and as the Pharaoh was said to be a living god, he or she would have to wear a beard also.
Yes, she. The second confirmed female Pharaoh, Hatshepshut, was often portrayed wearing a false beard. We know little of the female pharaohs that came before her, but it is possible that they, too, wore false beards.

Answer: Marriage and maturity

An Amish man starts growing a beard upon marriage, and keeps it the rest of his life. If he stays unmarried until his forties, it is also customary to start growing a beard then.
The upper lip always stays clean-shaven, though, as the pacifist Amish associate moustaches with the military, and wish to distance themselves as far from it as possible.
This style of beard is also called a "Shenandoah", or an "Abraham Lincoln", after its most famous wearer.

Answer: False

Von Tirpitz was a great military leader, but he also had a great beard: down to his chest, naturally curly and forked into two points. A Tirpitz beard needs about 2-4 months to grow naturally long, and can then be parted and trimmed into shape. Remember to brush it back into place regularly!

Answer: To hide his facial blemishes

The reason for Hadrian's beard might also have been his love for all things Greek; the Greeks wore beards, so he did as well. One biographical source, the Historia Augusta disputes this, and claims that the beard was to cover blemishes.
Whatever the reason, Hadrian turned out to be such a popular ruler that for more than a century afterwards, all Roman emperors wore beards.

Answer: They had refused to pay the tax on beards

Peter I introduced a host of reforms to modernize Russia and bring it closer to European standards, both culturally and technologically. He had noticed that successful European rulers were all clean-shaven, so he declared a law that all Russian men would have to shave. He even started by personally shaving all of his military commanders and others at court! Later on, he realized that the massive opposition to this law could be exploited, and instead imposed a tax on beards, varying with each man's social status and where they lived. Those who paid the tax received a token to verify they had bought their right to a beard, those who refused would be arrested and forcefully shaved.

Some sources also mention that Englands Henry VIII imposed a beard tax of some sort, but this is most likely an urban legend. No such tax has ever been proven by official sources.

Answer: Neck

The poet Thoreau is often portrayed as the prime example of how a neckbeard should look, as he once posed for a daguerrotype wearing a thick growth of hair covering only his neck. Thoreau himself had explained that the reason for his beard was to protect himself against "throat colds".
Most other people would have simply used a scarf.

Answer: Neville Chamberlain

It is quite unlikely that van Dyck started the trend of this type of beard, even if he did wear one himself. It just happened that he was the leading portrait painter of his time, and since many of his models naturally wore the beard style that was popular at the time, it carried over to his portraits.
Van Dyck's popularity also got his name attached to a specific way of fancy dress and several pigments of colour, the so-called "vandyke brown". Like the beard, he was not responsible for the invention of either.

Answer: Gen. Ambrose Burnside

Burnside sported such a magnificent pair that historian Bruce Catton described him as "wearing what was probably the most artistic and awe-inspiring set of whiskers in all that bewhiskered Army".
Military-wise, Burnside had less success than he did with his facial hair. He won some battles in the early phases of the American Civil War, but lost some major battles later on and was mistrusted by his fellow generals. Ever popular with his troops, though, he went on to have a political career, becoming both Governor and Senator for Rhode Island.

Answer: No

There are several depictions of Vikings with short beards, everything from tomb lids to contemporary wood carvings or manuscript illustrations show them with occasionally short beards. Vikings were also known for being meticulous groomers, combing and styling their hair and beards often, as well as bathing more often than the norm at the time.

Answer: The toothbrush

All the other styles mentioned reach all the way across the upper lip to the corners of the mouth, unlike the toothbrush.
Other people who used to have toothbrush moustaches at some point (before WWII) include Charlie Chaplin, George Orwell and Oliver Hardy.