Events in History and their Irrelevance to Today During this week in 1722, Russian Emperor Peter I, aka "Peter the Great" lifted his edict upon men with beards, initiated years earlier in an effort to modernize Russia. It was one of many attempts, from the brilliant to the tragic, from the rational to the ridiculous Peter attempted to make Russia more like the Western Europe he so admired. Meanwhile, today Richard Gere's beard is really hot.