The wig craze began with a bald patch.
Louis XIII lost his hair early and took to wearing a wig in the 1620s; courtiers followed, and under Louis XIV a full wig became essential male dress.
More amazing facts
- 1618 The Thirty Years' War began when officials were thrown out of a window — and survived.
- 1620 The Mayflower Pilgrims hurried ashore at Plymouth partly because of beer.
- 1620 The Mayflower Pilgrims did not wear black with buckled hats.
- 1625 · 1662 One of the most accurate pictures of a dodo was painted at the Mughal court.
- 1626 The famous "$24 for Manhattan" is a 19th-century conversion.
- 1628 · 1961 The Swedish warship Vasa sank in 1628 about 1,300 metres into her maiden voyage.