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09/17/2004 Entry: "Emperor Norton I"

On this day in 1859, Joshua A. Norton declared himself Emperor of the United States and protector of Mexico.


He issued his own currency, made proclamations, and was a beloved member of San-Fransisco's population. He has been deemed a saint and a prophet who called for both a "League of Nations" and what later became the Golden Gate Bridge.

Here's his first proclamation:


At the peremptory request of a large majority of the citizens of these
United States, I, Joshua Norton, formerly of Algoa Bay, Cape of Good
Hope, and now for the past nine years and ten months of San Francisco,
California, declare and proclaim myself Emperor of these U. S., and in
virtue of the authority thereby in me vested do hereby order and direct
the representatives of the different States of the Union to assemble in
Musical Hall of this city, on the 1st day of February next, then and
there to make such alterations in the existing laws of the Union as may
ameliorate the evils under which the country is laboring, and thereby
cause confidence to exist, both at home and abroad, in our stability and
integrity. - Norton I, Emperor of the United States, September 17, 1859

Note the first line. Perhaps the last time the invocation of "pre-emption" was ever uttered with at least the slightest iota of sanity.

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