No Beard Day
The Obscure Holiday Calendar app highlights No Beard Day 🪒 with polished artwork, notifications, and one-tap sharing.
Overview
No Beard Day, observed annually on October 18th, is an unofficial holiday where men, particularly those who typically sport facial hair, shave their beards off. It's often celebrated as a symbolic fresh start, a personal challenge, or sometimes in contrast to, or preparation for, "Movember," which encourages growing facial hair for charity in November. The day emphasizes a clean-shaven look and can be a way to surprise friends and family.
Origin and story
It falls just before "Movember," which encourages growing mustaches to raise awareness for men's health issues.
While not as globally recognized as Movember, it is celebrated by individuals as a personal statement or a precursor to facial hair growth challenges.
Quick facts
- DateOctober 18
- TypeKindness / Community
- Great forCommunity groups, Friends, Coworkers
Also on this date
Ways to celebrate
Forced clean-shaving has real historical teeth: in 1698, Russia's Peter the Great taxed beards to push the country toward Western European fashion, going so far as to personally shave startled guests at a reception with a barber's razor, and empowering police to forcibly shave anyone who refused to pay.
Take the plunge
- If you've had a beard for a while, shave it off today and see how it changes your look — or your coworkers' reactions.
Read about the original beard ban
Helpful resources: Smithsonian Magazine covers Peter the Great's beard crackdown in "Why Peter the Great Established a Beard Tax."
Set up for what comes next
- Use the clean slate as a starting line for "Movember" in November, when many men grow out mustaches to raise awareness for men's health causes.
Did you know?
Russians who paid Peter's beard tax had to carry a copper or silver "beard token" as proof of payment, stamped with an image of a beard on one side — the tax stayed on the books for over 70 years until Catherine the Great repealed it in 1772.
Fun facts
- It falls just before "Movember," which encourages growing mustaches to raise awareness for men's health issues.
- While not as globally recognized as Movember, it is celebrated by individuals as a personal statement or a precursor to facial hair growth challenges.
- Some participants use the day to raise money or awareness for various causes, often through sponsorships for shaving their beards.
Sources and attribution
External links may lead to third-party websites.
Continue your streak
Open one more holiday before you go to build daily momentum.
FAQ
- When is No Beard Day?
- It is observed on October 18 each year.
- What is No Beard Day?
- No Beard Day, observed annually on October 18th, is an unofficial holiday where men, particularly those who typically sport facial hair, shave their beards off. It's often celebrated as a symbolic fresh start, a personal challenge, or sometimes in contrast to, or preparation for, "Movember," which encourages growing facial hair for charity in November. The day emphasizes a clean-shaven look and can be a way to surprise friends and family.
- How do people celebrate No Beard Day?
- Shave off your beard for the day, use the clean slate to prepare for growing it back during Movember in November, and read up on Peter the Great's 1698 Russian beard tax, one of history's most forceful anti-beard campaigns.
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