the.com/beard
the slow-motion victory lap of every follicle that survived puberty
means the hair that grows on a man's chin, cheeks, and jaw, worn long or short by choice
from From Old English 'beard,' the same word marching down through the Germanic line — German 'Bart,' Dutch 'baard' — and reaching even further back to a Proto-Indo-European root '*bʰardʰeh₂,' which surfaces again in Latin 'barba' (source of 'barber') and the Slavic 'broda.' One of those deeply ancient face-words humans seem never to have done without.
- growth rate
- about 5.5 inches per year, never stopping
- world record
- Hans Langseth's reached 17 feet, 6 inches
- viking myth
- they rarely braided beards with axes—mostly just combs
- daily count
- around 30,000 whiskers on the average face
- hidden bacteria
- some studies found more microbes than toilet seats
abraham lincoln's beard — 16th us president grew it in 1861, inspired by 11-year-old girl's letter suggesting it would improve his appearance
fidel castro's beard — cuban leader's iconic long beard became symbol of his revolution from 1959 onward
barbossa's beard — captain barbossa in pirates of the caribbean, covered in beads and ornaments, iconic fictional beard