San Francisco has had it's share of characters over the years, but Joshua Abraham Norton, who proclaimed himself the first Emperor of the United States of America in 1859, might take the cake:
He was a self-proclaimed aristocrat, even going so far as to declare himself Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico, indulging in the sort of monarchy nonsense that the country had spilled blood over less than a hundred years before. Yet in spite of it, when this Emperor finally died in 1880, almost thirty thousand people jammed the streets of San Francisco to attend his funeral. And in 1880, thirty thousand people represented over ten percent of the city’s population.
From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by redsfaithful.
Newest 5 Comments
I remember Robert Anton Wilson doing a bit about how he tried to start his own currency which is when the powers that be shut him down.
Abusive comment hidden.
(Show it anyway.)
He must have had a lot of kids. I think they're up to 360 now.
Abusive comment hidden.
(Show it anyway.)
NORTON!!!
Abusive comment hidden.
(Show it anyway.)
I wonder how he would be dealt with in the 21st century.
Abusive comment hidden.
(Show it anyway.)
The Sandman issue that featured Emperor Norton I was issue #31, "Three Septembers and a January". It is included in the 6th trade paperback, entitled, "The Sandman: Fables & Reflections". It depicts a wager over the future of Norton, waged between Dream (aka Sandman), and his sister Despair. It ranks near the top of all the stories in the Sandman series by Neil Gaiman.
Abusive comment hidden.
(Show it anyway.)