Q 01/05

Beard growth in men is driven by the stimulation of hair follicles by which hormone?

A) Dihydrotestosterone

B) Somatotropin

C) Progesterone

D) Aldosterone

Answer · why

A) Dihydrotestosterone

The same hormone also promotes balding, which is why a thick beard and a thinning scalp so often arrive together.

Q 02/05

Which naturalist first proposed, in The Descent of Man, that sexual selection explains men's beards?

A) Thomas Huxley

B) Charles Darwin

C) Gregor Mendel

D) Alfred Russel Wallace

Answer · why

B) Charles Darwin

Modern biologists broadly agree, and studies find that a majority of women rate bearded men as more attractive.

Q 03/05

What was the metal false beard worn by Egyptian kings and queens regnant called?

A) Postiche

B) Uraeus

C) Khepresh

D) Nemes

Answer · why

A) Postiche

It was tied on with a ribbon over the head and a gold chin strap, and the fashion lasted from about 3000 to 1580 BCE.

Q 04/05

How did the Spartans punish cowards, according to ancient sources?

A) By making them wear women's cloaks

B) By shaving off part of their beards

C) By dyeing their hair with henna

D) By tattooing their foreheads

Answer · why

B) By shaving off part of their beards

To the Greeks a smooth face signalled effeminacy, so a half-shaved beard was a walking humiliation.

Q 05/05

Which Roman general is said to have been the first Roman to shave his beard?

A) Cato the Elder

B) Julius Caesar

C) Scipio Africanus

D) Pompey the Great

Answer · why

C) Scipio Africanus

Shaving caught on so fast afterwards that a smooth chin became a way of looking Roman rather than Greek.