

Emperor Norton - tosh
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Norton

======
HaseebR7
"n 1867, a policeman named Armand Barbier arrested Norton to commit him to
involuntary treatment for a mental disorder.[3] The Emperor's arrest outraged
the citizens and sparked scathing editorials in the newspapers. Police Chief
Patrick Crowley ordered Norton released and issued a formal apology on behalf
of the police force.[10] Crowley wrote "that he had shed no blood; robbed no
one; and despoiled no country; which is more than can be said of his fellows
in that line."[18] Norton magnanimously granted what he considered an Imperial
Pardon to the errant policeman. All police officers of San Francisco
thereafter saluted Norton as he passed in the street"

:D

~~~
spiritplumber
I wonder what the SFPD would do today, and fear that it would be a much less
awesome story.

------
evanb
I took friends of mine on Emperor Norton's Fantastic San Francisco Time
Machine [1] sort of as a joke, and it turned out to be an absolutely excellent
decision. The Emperor Norton reinterpreter is a passionate history buff, knows
a lot about San Francisco history and hidden-in-plain-sight SF landmarks.

I would strongly recommend this walking tour--I did it with people visiting
from out of town, but it'd be fun even with only locals.

[1] [http://www.emperornortontour.com/](http://www.emperornortontour.com/)

------
jmspring
Two modern day groups who honor Emperor Norton:

E Clampus Vitus --
[http://abc7news.com/archive/7288186/](http://abc7news.com/archive/7288186/)

And Heirs of Norton --
[http://www.heirsofnorton.com](http://www.heirsofnorton.com)

There was a movement to have the Bay Bridge renamed the Emperor Norton Bridge
-- [http://www.emperorsbridge.org](http://www.emperorsbridge.org)

~~~
chnx
He's also a patron saint of Discordianism.

~~~
jmspring
New one to me. The annual clamper pilgrimage to his gravesite in Colma is a
treat.

------
linschn
He inspired a Lucky Luke comic album :
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27Empereur_Smith](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27Empereur_Smith)

------
jacquesm
The Emperor has been here before:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7814140](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7814140)

------
SCHiM
What a gem! I guess this shows how much facets the human condition has. To
think that a man calling himself emperor would be tolerated, much less
celebrated, in the US is almost as insane as the fact that someone would
proclaim himself emperor of the US in the first place.

Just amazing.

~~~
beat
This is where the rest of the country rolls its eyes and casts aspersions at
San Francisco.

~~~
justizin
Too bad we can't hear them.

------
jkrejci
You must be new to SF like everyone else.

------
api
Today he'd have a popular blog.

------
geoffpado
Also the namesake of an amazing brand of sourdough chips that got discontinued
well before their time.

