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Peter The Great levied a tax on facial hair on 5th September, 1698, requiring every man in Moscow to shave or stump up some cash - although there were exemptions for the Orthodox Church.\nThe hare-brained scheme occurred to the eccentric Peter on his expeditions through Europe, where he came to see clean chins as symbolic of progress and sophistication.\nIn this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly uncover Peter\u2019s other \u2018European rules of comportment\u2019; convert the costs of Peter\u2019s taxes into the highly-relatable metric of \u2018sturgeon from North\u2019; and reveal how a similar tax was proposed in New Jersey as recently as 1907\u2026\xa0\nFurther Reading:\n\u2022 \u2018Russia: A Reference Guide from the Renaissance to the Present\u2019 (Mauricio Borrero, 2009):\nhttps://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Russia/dhm0cGdrTOIC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=beard+tax+1698&pg=PA83&printsec=frontcover\n\u2022 \u201810 terrible taxes in history\u2019 (HistoryExtra, 2018): https://www.historyextra.com/period/general-history/10-terrible-taxes/\n\u2022 \u2018Ten Minute History - Peter the Great and the Russian Empire\u2019 (History Matters, 2019): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tBNr2gjAA0\nFor bonus material and to support the show, visit\xa0Patreon.com/Retrospectors\nWe'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts:\xa0podfollow.com/Retrospectors\nThe Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.\nTheme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.\nCopyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.\n Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices