The Forgotten Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico, Norton I
Вставка
- Опубліковано 13 чер 2024
- If you happen to like our videos and have a few bucks to spare to support our efforts, check out our Patreon page where we've got a variety of perks for our Patrons, including Simon's voice on your GPS and the ever requested Simon Whistler whistling package: / todayifoundout
→Subscribe for new videos every day!
ua-cam.com/users/TodayIFo...
Never run out of things to say at the water cooler with TodayIFoundOut! Brand new videos 7 days a week!
More from TodayIFoundOut
The Siberian Family Who Didnt See Other Humans For Over 40 Years
• The Siberian Family Wh...
The Man Who Personally Executed Over 7000 People in 28 Days, One at a Time
• The Man Who Personally...
In this video:
His Imperial Majesty Joshua Abraham Norton I was born between 1811 and 1818 in England. Records of his birth date vary considerably, but it’s likely that the latter date is the correct one. His family immigrated to South Africa when he was quite young, where his father headed a small Jewish community. As a young man, he initially attempted to run his own business in Cape Town but quickly went bankrupt and started working at his father’s ship chandlery instead.
Want the text version?: www.todayifoundout.com/index.p...
Sources:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_...
www.sfhistoryencyclopedia.com/...
www.molossia.org/norton.html
www.emperornortonbaybridge.com...
www.emperornorton.org/1024/Chi...
cf.rims.org/Magazine/PrintTemp...
Image Credit:
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History...
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emperor...
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
www.bigstockphoto.com/ru/imag...
www.bigstockphoto.com/ru/imag...
www.bigstockphoto.com/ru/imag...
www.bigstockphoto.com/ru/imag...
www.bigstockphoto.com/ru/imag...
www.bigstockphoto.com/ru/imag...
www.bigstockphoto.com/ru/imag...
www.bigstockphoto.com/ru/imag...
Music from Jukedeck - create your own at jukedeck.com.
Ready to learn more fascinating facts about history? Then check out this video and find out about The Curious Case of Captain Robert Campbell:
ua-cam.com/video/hMyvSEhSg-w/v-deo.html
*Being from SodomCisco, that Emperor was obviously GAY AF!!! and died from his daily craving of a Fecal-Phallus.*
Do you know, if by any chance, he had an heir?
He left out the part where the Emperor wrote to President Grant and gave him permission to take care of the day to day ruling of America and Grant wrote back thanking him.
XD thats incredible
landfair123 Grant had a great sense of humor like that.
landfair123
This goes to show people will follow anything as long as it's popular.
Maybe so, but come on, where's the harm in it?
landfair123 that is hysterical
ALL HAIL EMPEROR NORTON THE FIRST... and last.
Crazy or not, he really did bring people together.
AND he clearly wasn't greedy or uppity, it seems he was just a normal if a bit shrewd man who wanted to do some good.
I wanna declare myself as Emperor of the United States.
Tj Hariharan a bit touched in the head probably aswell
He was a great man.
A President Trump of his day.
he loved his country, his people, he was praised by them, but now these stupid millennials can't help but joke about him. that's why the world's just a mess nowadays, because people can't get inspired by others from the past and just joke about everything, what a shame. long live norton I!
Wow, not only an emperor, protector of Mexico, but a antivirus program as well. Truly amazing.
David Hill This man is truly an inspiration to all.
That's Peter Norton.
RaymondHng
Do not question His Imperial Majesty!
and here i thought Elon Musk and Nelson Mandela was South Africa's greatest export to the America's... HOW WRONG WAS I? THE EMPEROR IS DEAD, LONG LIVE EMPEROR NORTON!!!
He also played as The Hulk before Mark Ruffalo.
AHAHAHA I looked Emperor Norton up in the 1870 census, and his occupation is indeed listed as "Emperor." The census enumerator also made note that our dear ruler was insane!
Hehe
Insane as all good rulers should be
Why couldn't we all put down our occupations as Emperor or some such on our tax returns? :D
If Emperor Norton were around today, we could probably easily meme him into power lol
Justin Noker you think he wasn't memed into power from this story?
CanadaJarod by power I meant like an actual position like governor or a house seat, etc.
Justin Noker the local new memed him into power and when anything bad happened they memed him out of any type of trouble he got in
That's exactly what they were doing back in the day... :o)
Justin Noker if he was alive today the cops would have shot him for being a nut
Hollywood must make a movie of this dude.....OMG it would be a smash
Kevin Clements Tom Hanks or Liam Nesson could star.
Norton was depicted on an episode of _Bonanza_.
Kevin Clements I was thinking this exact same thing - this is a movie I'd go see. Most towns have a local hero - sometimes people who were great at football, served in a war, or rescued one of their own. And sometimes, the local hero is celebrated because they're eccentric. And he was the ultimate eccentric. Plus, the origins of San Francisco are always a good topic.
I don't want Hollywood touching me. They'd do their usual excellent job and set the movie in Mongolia.
@Egie No it should be Nicolas Cage!
México had a guy EXACTLY like this. His name was Nicolás Zúñiga y Miranda. He claimed to be the legitimate president of México for more than 20 years while the country was under a dictatorial regime with fake elections.
He was considered mad, but hilarious by the government so they let him run around doing his thing. He was extremely popular with the average people of México and would travel from village to village and city to city to meet large crowds.
Businesses often served him as if he was actually the real president and newspapers constantly published all he said.
People liked him because he was a walking condemnation of the lack of democracy in México and he served the public as a symbol of open defiance, as well as the national wish to see representative democracy return.
He actually made a very large impact of Mexican society even though many Mexicans don't remember him. This is because most elections are still accused by people as being fraudulent and more than half a dozen presidential candidates have called themselves the "legitimate president" after officially losing.
"What happens when you're down on your luck and on your last dollar? Why, you declare yourself Emperor... like any American"
XD oh my sides that was awesome
The Golden Gate Bridge and its color were decreed by Norton; the man was well ahead of his time in that matter.
It's also a little known fact that he drew up designs for what would later be known as the space elevator.
Bay Bridge, actually - or, as some of us prefer, the Emperor Norton Bridge. :)
www.EmperorsBridge.org/emperor/bridge-proclamations/
www.EmperorNortonBridge.org
Yeah, there's a plaque at the main bus terminal in SF which briefly tells the story of how the Emperor decreed that the Bay Bridge shall be built.
Right. After 30 years at the Cliff House, the plaque was moved to the old Transbay Terminal in 1986, in connection with the 50th anniversary of the bridge. When the terminal was demolished in 2011 to prepare the site for construction of the new Transbay Transit Center, the plaque was put in storage and (reportedly) is to be reinstalled as part of an interpretive / historical feature at the new facility.
There's more on the plaque - including a photograph - at www.EmperorsBridge.org/emperor-norton-bridge/historical-efforts/1939
Huh, I didn't know that the terminal had been demolished. Haven't been there since 2002. Oakland and SF residents were still arguing over the new bridge design.
He isn't "forgotten", he was very famous when he was alive (as the vid points out), and his story is well
known in California history, and there are bars and restaurants named after him even today.
Tuco Pacifico Not many people outside of California know of him
I don’t remember learn that in school
Very subjective viewpoint, friend; there's 49 other states, friend.
I live in california and never once knew of Norton's existence till recently
Hell yeah we are! I take pride in this weirdness. Everyone should take pride in their weirdness. It is what makes them who they are.
“Ya know what?
The courts can eat my shorts,
The house can eat my blouse,
Peru can eat my shoe,
I declare myself emperor of these here United States.”
-Sam O’Nella
"Who is your favorite historical world leader?"
"It's complicated."
San Francisco is the only place were a hobo can become emperor
*SodomCisco has plenty of Emperors of the Fecal-Phallus.*
Cedric Blum the hobo that made 6 million dollars
California didn't deserve him.
Or Buffalo...?
I remember finding out about this guy after playing a CK2 mod where they creditied him as the 1st Emperor of California. So many laughs. I named all my kids after him.
Was it After the End?
ariel sharpe Yes, my favorite mod.
Mundane Mod: I'm from Michigan so I like playing as a lord from there and genociding Ohio.
Base game: Lothrangia (I spelled that wrong...) or southern england.
MERCENARYTAO1 no please no need to genocide us the heroine is gonna beat you to it
Nort, Norton, Nortie. and Norttaly for the few female rulers I had.Its been so long, I could probably think of more but fuck it.
It's astounding how far people can take a joke.
I have a group of gaming buddies in a guild. we started praising goat(a play on words for god) to bring us good games and good luck. soon enough, this quasi religion started forming and when i saw it go from this is a joke to it's more of a cult(WITH ME AS THE LEADER) i had to put it down like a rabid dog
edwierdo227 Gonna start praising goat now thanks.
Had something similar during what i guess is german highschool... we were four boys who all hated maths and started a very, very ironic cult that worshiped the number Pi like some kind of dark lord and our teacher as our messia or something.
It was basically the flying spagetti monster for people that hate math, and looking back on it im pretty glad that everybody involved understood that it was just a really elaborate (and bad) joke...
The best way to perpetuate a joke is to get everyone else to join in.
That reminds me of the cult of goowism, a cult formed around goowi the goat, the meme goat. It even has it's own discord server.
Is anyone really interested in what Emperor Norton thought about the Civil War? The fact that "his" country split apart probably wouldn't sit well with him.
Noice Roice No. and i don't think Congress, Abraham Lincoln or Jefferson Davis cared what this man was thinking either.
jtm726 That's why our Emperor had them executed.
The emperor wanted unity, yet, but he was an ardent supporter of equal rights. He wasn't in support of slavery. By standing between that mob and that Chinese man, he put his life on the line directly for someone who would have had the status of a slave. I think he would have supported sit-ins and such first, with war as a last option.
I love how Today I Found Out's stuff is really unique. Like you will rarely find these type of videos on the youtube
I'm pertty sure that was sarcasm.
Tell Me This you must be new to UA-cam
HooverProdigy him
So he was basically a living meme..
I do declare upon him the additional title of Emperor Meme.
The first meme.
@@GECKman88 The First of His Meme.
May God rest the great Meme Emperor of the USA. Everyone get drunk!
@@fishofgold6553 Lol
You have to wonder was he really insane or was it just a joke at first until he realised that everyone was willing to humour him. I because being able to print your own money and ask shops for taxes is rather good for someone who would be homeless otherwise
Rumors have it that he wasn't even bankrupt but just pretended to be, though that could never be prooven after his death.
He did seem to try to do good on the behalf of the people
Yes. Both.
@@judgment5090 most definitely
People like this make history fun.
I've seen you in another comment section somewhere?
I bet that someone is planning to restore the American Empire after watching this.
Intergalactic Human Empire restore?
Braeden Hood All Hail God-Emperor!
Intergalactic Human Empire no, a Galactic Empire
Intergalactic Human Empire I bet I can restore the American Empire, just you watch
I hereby declare myself Emperor Norton the Second of the United States of America! My first Imperial decree, fix and upgrade the infrastructure.
Emperor Norton was a better leader than we've had in ages.
He's also the inspiration for the King in Mark Twain's _Huckleberry Finn_.
May I ask how you know he was the inspiration for Huckleberry?
Java Monkey woah, really?! I read an issue Of Neil Gaiman's Sand Man featuring Norton and Mark Twain in which he actually commissioned Twain to be America's story teller. I had no idea it was actually based on something real.
Forodin - he wasn't the inspiration for Huckleberry himself, but the character the King.
Twain was acquainted with Emperor Norton due to the fact that he was living in San Francisco during his reign, working for publications such as _The Californian_. He occasionally made mention of Norton in his articles and in correspondences with various friends and acquaintances. He also wrote an obituary for one of Norton's dogs, Bummer, which appeared in _The Virginia City Enterprise_ and _The Californian_.
As for proof that he served as inspiration for the King specifically, alas, I'm having trouble finding the actual missive in which he confirms this, though the detail is included in PBS.org's official biography of Norton, which I consider a fairly reliable source. The parallels between Norton and the King are difficult to miss, though.
Egie - Gaiman's account is obviously somewhat fictionalized, but Twain and Norton did indeed cross paths in their lifetime. It really is amazing with what frequency Mark Twain would find himself in such interesting, often somewhat crazy, company. The man lived quite a life.
He was also the inspiration for "The Emperor" in many of Christopher Moore's books. Starting with "Love Bites" Hilarious reads. I highly recommend them.
Brian Ruel FDR was a 33 level mason, that Pres. knew Pearl Harbor was gonna happen and he did nothing to stop it. Fuck FDR amd his Wheelchair, sorta like G.Bush knew of 9/11 plot.
A harmless vagrant, with a heart of gold.
Saving Chinese immigrants in the 1800s?
This guy would have become the first Martin Luther King Jr before the actual MLK.
Well... He was nuts. He's more like that one dog that drags a baby out of a fire.
@@discordlexia2429 lmfaoooooooooo
I learnt about His Imperial Majesty via Neil Gaimans Sandman comic. The book does his story justice.
CaptainMcAwesomepan had to scroll down too far to find this comment ☺
It was a fantastic segment. I think Sandman should be required reading in high school. It would certainly break up the monotony.
Wolf Hreda
It was in my school - by the students.
Me too. I honestly thought it was just a sweet story until I checked to see if he was a part of an extended universe or something. Aside from the supernatural stuff, it's surprisingly accurate.
He is even part if a Lucky Luke comic ^^
Whaaat? He's from....
Oh.... San Francisco.....
I thought, "a crazy homeless man declared himself emperor.. and everyone proceeded to treat him as one?"
Then, "oh... San Francisco. Okay."
AoiKaze2000
Always been a nutty town it seems
Actually South Africa.
Trevor Parson it is. Which is why i dont live there.
San Francisco the Florida of California
Hold up
Whaaaaaat?
That title though
I love this channel
So much weird cool info
It's never clickbait so it's always amazing
Anti Cancerous It's always clickbait! It's just actually interesting clickbait lol
It's not bait, since you kinda get what it says.
jmkbartsch Clickbait doesn't have to be misleading. It just has to be something that grabs your attention and gets you to click it. I'd say these titles do the trick.
I'm a subscriber and simply watch all the videos without complaint.
Anti Cancerous I know right!
I AM THE SENATE.
Giulio Imparato ily 😂
Giulio Imparato everything has transpired according to my plan
DO IT
No you're not I am
@@da-ghoul2332 No, I'm Dirty Dan.
Man... I wish Emperor Norton was here today. He wouldn't put up with this crud.
Long live the American Empire!
got to love strange and weird history
This has to be one of the most fascinating stories I've heard in a long time! Thank you very, very much!!!
This “emperor” was the first modern meme - all the usual elements are present - something insane and of very low quality but amusing gains unbelievable traction and popular support, is used as a brand and even incurs donations, then ends abruptly with much fanfare and is swiftly forgotten.
He was not forgotten at all. Every year san francisco honors his grave with a memorial service. Hes talked about a lot in californian history
Thank you so much for sharing the honorable Emperor’s story with his subjects’ descendants. He’s one of my top 5 figures in history and I wish everyone knew his amazing story! Thanks again Simon!!
this hit me in the feels for some reason. three cheers for the empororer
Welp, now I know what i want to to next time I go to San Francisco. Gonna look for his grave and pay my respect for him.
Many of SF's deceased are buried in Colma, a little south of the city, and he is no exception.
Abraham Casian I was literally thinking of doing that
He's at Woodlawn Cemetery, AND has a memorial plaque in the Hills of Eternity Cemetery. There's a dude who holds walking tours of SF, as the Emperor, it's lots of fun!
All graves were moved out of San Francisco due to space. But you can certainly visit his grave. You can also find books about him. People not from there usually ignore them since they are unfortunate in not knowing who he is.
I think it’s cool that his tombstone just says he was the emperor, as if it was real.
I will name my first born Norton. RIP Emperor Norton the First, Emporer of the United States of America and protector of the United Provinces of Mexico.
I might have to try this. Just declare myself emperor of the United States. Wonder how America would respond? I think they would like hearing from "His Majesty, Sire to the Underlings, Duke of the Hazards, Lord of the Holy Rings, His Excellence Eminence, King of the Americas Status Unitus, Emperor Sean of the Townsends I. Yeah I think it's got a nice ring to it!
This is a brilliant channel, I always learn something new. Clearly HM Norton I, was a mad genius. Here's to the United States land of mad geniuses!
I lived in San Fran for awhile and I always loved this story. It's like everybody decided that he wasn't hurting anyone and was actually really likable so there was this big unspoken agreement to just play along.
In my family tree, I am descended from a REAL American emperor: Moytoy, the Emperor of the Cherokees. The British declared Moytoy an emperor when they made a peace treaty with the Cherokees in the 1730's. He was even invited to travel to Windsor Castle to meet King George II. (Moytoy did not go but he sent family members to England to represent him. They spent several weeks living in Windsor Castle.)
RD M pretty cool, but NOBODY ASKED
AfroUchiha Okay in that case NOBODY ASKED FOR WHAT YOU THOUGHT
That's pretty amazing
Are you one of those 1/16th-ers? Because you definitely sound like a 1/16th-er.
In Europe, the majority of people can - if they go to any effort - trace their family lines back to some form of nobility or another. I myself am descended - albeit illegitimately - from the Cope baronets of Bramshill House. It is not surprising that RD M has noble blood, given the fact that people in power often men who use that power to take advantage of women and are therefore often promiscuous, they tend to sire quite a few offspring. Combine this with the fact that, throughout history, there have been a great many nobles, most European and Asian nations go through the phase of having powerful, titled, gentry. It is common to find people of aristocratic descent, it is - as they say - nothing to write home about.
Admittedly, the fact that RD M's aristocratic blood is not Eurasian in origin and is of a substantially higher order than most's is interesting. But, at the same time, considering that the title of Emperor was more of an affectation bestowed by the British and the informal and occasionally polygamous nature of Cherokke marriages (see; www.everyculture.com/North-America/Cherokee-Marriage-and-Family.html) it is made both less impressive and less surpirsing.
Furthermore, during the time period RD M specified Windsor Castle was not the favoured place it is today - King George II, the reigning monarch - didn't care for the place (see; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windsor_Castle#cite_ref-173), and, within the next decade, it became a tourist attraction.
The proper title for this guy is "THE MAN WHO INVENTED CALIFORNIA".
MrBabylonandon You will refer to him as our Imperial Protector
I use his Anti-virus on my computer.
I mean he sounds like a stand up guy to me. I wonder what would have happened had he not gone bankrupt and actually over threw the government 😂
You wouldn't have millions of morons voting for Trump.
Ericbaum
Your clearly 12. Trump hasn't fixed a single thing yet. Hell hes only made things harder. Hes pulling out of deals that are beneficial to the world like the Paris Climate Accord (eventually).
Dude, chill out. As a liberal, I can imagine you calling me a moron, and I don't care. Do that if you wish, but beware it will hurt your reputation if you do. I will be here ready to have a talk on civil discourse and government for the people whenever you are ready. You could've just let the comment be. I've heard dozens of insults thrown to me, so if something like that bothers you so deeply, either get over it or look up why people say that. Beyond politics, this video was very nice, unlike your comment. Geez, I'll just say it like it is (since you like people like that): clean up your act, grow up. Once you're ready to have an adult conversation, I'll be here waiting.
If he overthrew the govt I wouldn’t see people arguing which person would be a better president
CZ PC ok bud, tell how that Paris Accord was fair in any regard. We were the only ones doing our part in that deal and everyone else was not coming even to fulfilling their end of the bargain. Trump wasnt to be pushed around and so he pulled out of that.
9:09 "who has never chosen to overtax his subjects", what a great man!
sounds like vermin supreme is on the same path, lol
Stephen Willet Everyone needs a pony!
kmjr1989 and a zombie powered future
The difference is that Vermin Supreme is more jester and less lunatic.
Stephen Willet also Lord Buckethead in the UK
this guy kinda sounds like a jester himself.
How about this for a video: What's the origin of shrugging? Specifically shrugging your shoulders and turning your palms up. How did that come to mean "I don't know" ? The wikipedia page didn't tell me much.
Joel Davis
>.>
Joel Davis *shrugs* beats me.
Exact origin is lost to history. But the etymology of the word stems from Old Engish, meaning to Stoop or Crouch.
If something was being requested of you by a superior, you would face reprisal for responding negatively, stooping or crouching is adopting a submissive pose (apologetic) - with palms up showing empty to physically show "I do not have it".
French people communicate exclusively through shrugging.
this needs a dark souls shrug emote.
God bless America the only place something this amazing could happen.
All of us San Franciscans honor his memory so I'm glad you covered the story. You did fail to mention the names of the dogs in one of the pictures of the Emperor: Bummer and Lazarus. They were famous all on their own.
The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge was going to get a name other than that boring moniker. Alas, they named the western parts of the bridges for Willie Brown instead of the Emperor. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco%E2%80%93Oakland_Bay_Bridge#Emperor_Norton_naming_campaigns
I would love to meet Norton. Seems like a cool guy.
The excellent novel Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore has a character based on him.
Pimpdaddy Leswag he is actually in all the novels by Moore set in that City.
Michael Blank I'm surprised Robert Rankin didn't throw him in somewhere, doing dimak with Count Otto Black...or dueling with Hugo Rune! (the most amazing man who ever lived welsh-nutter.co.uk/rune/runef.htm )
THANKS!! I did shout. I needed a good feeling today. Since I'm living with my parents both of whom are slowly slipping into Alzheimer's, it's nice to see something sadly happy once in a while. My father is hooked on a cable channel that shows predominantly westerns, one in particular is Bonanza. I didn't realize their episode about the "Emperor of the US" was about a real person, Emporer Norton I. Thank you!!
Everybody understands Mickey Mouse. Few understand Hermann Hesse. Only a handful understood Albert Einstein. And nobody understood Emperor Norton.
It's like San Francisco had a village idiot they everyone just humored.
San Francisco has MANY of those.
Kinda, although he was far from an idiot. Most believed he was delusional, but he was a charming and harmless sort of lunatic and provided many with entertainment if nothing else. He basically became a sort of mascot for the city, much like a sports team mascot.
MrJest2 in my little town in Indiana we had a mentally handicapped fellow the the town collectively took care of. The city gave him a uniform and a job and keys to tons of public buildings. He died and we named a pivilion after him where they have a farmers market on Saturdays
San Francisco is the village idiot we all just humor
No, that's Portland.
2:02 Wait, there's a second pronunciation of "misled"?
shit.....
Luna Chase
No he misspelled it
Oh, so _that's_ what he said. Thanks, Luna!
Luna Chase I think he pronounced it wrong
The word does fit the context but you can hear the "L" and "miser" is a noun, not a verb.
What a delightfully absurd story hail emperor Norton.
You forgot one of the most touch tributes to Norton. A judge spoke something to the effect of "He had shed no blood, robbed no man, and despoiled no country. Which is more than can be said for fellows in the King line...." ;) Rest In Peace Emperor Norton.
Firstly, brilliant topic. Neil Gaiman wrote about him in Sandman and it's a lovely subject and a great piece of history. Secondly, your channel has some fantastic research. Lastly. Please get someone to "proof view" your videos as Misled and Shookeeper are very jarring errors in speech.
Celtic Guy he is also the basis of the emperor of San Francisco who appears in about five or six of Christopher Moore's books. He's a pretty main character in the vampire trilogy and is also in a dirty job and secondhand souls. He's a great character. Christopher more talks about him in the forward for one of the books and talks about who he was based on.
Finally! Someone other than me read Sandman!
And Death liked his hat very much^^
wait.. how do you say misled then?
Edit: NVM I see what you're saying. (2:02)
Celtic Gu cvgggjigvnji
2:01 "on the grounds that Sillem had MY-ZELD him"
MY-ZELD? is that even a word?
I think he was supposed to say "misled", as in "led him astray"... If there was a beauty pageant for the periodic table, you might get this word confused with "Miss Lead"...
I'm glad someone suggested this story. I'm a native Californian and have always enjoyed the stories of colorful characters from Gold Rush times.... and Emperor Norton's one of my favorites. Thanks Simon and Daven for making this video.
"I've decided to put myself in charge." Never dreamt that anyone would actually follow through on it...
I always enjoy listening to you detail and describe the stories are sharing but this was one of my favorites and you made it even funnier thank you
In the name of Robert of the House Baratheon, the First of his Name, King of the Andals and the Rhoynar and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms I name you Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico.
Thanks! 😁
Let my first proclamation be the resurrection of the late emperor, proctor of Mexico, Norton I, become top priority of all minds of adequate stature and mental stamina and capability in these United States of the American Empire. He shall be reinstated to his former glory and I will abdicate into the role of leader of the Mexican protectorate.
I really, really, enjoyed this video. A lot. I rarely miss your vids, but this one was particularly good. Thanks for all you do!
He really was an active civil servant in his own, unique way. I generally salute him.
This story was absolutely insane... and I loved every minute of it! xD
That awkward moment when a self proclaimed emperor was more popular than the real current president of the United States...
EJSFilms2K not sure you know what “current” means
@@Greg-TC Unless he's saying that Obama is still the "real" president somehow.
Really? Hows that? Dumbass
@@Anthropomorphic or Hiliary in her "alternate earth" lol
Trump's approval rating is around 30%. I'm sure that's much lower than Emperor Norton's.
I had the privilege of learning about Emperor Norton while acting in David Morton's play about him in the 1980s. His story is fascinating and his funeral remains one of the biggest public events in San Francisco's history honoring an individual.
Recently heard of this. You did a great job with the video. Keep up the good work.
The perfect world leader doesn’t exis........
Thanks Simon and crew; great yarn about an interesting character. Not enough of them about these days... ;-}
He reminds me of Don Quixote from Miguel De Cervantes's book
You forgot some of the best parts. There were two dogs who always followed him around and he would share his food with them. When one of them died he held a massive funeral procession across town. He also prevented an anti-Chinese riot by standing between the mob and Chinatown and praying.
I didn't realize he was Jewish though, so that's new to me.
@2:03 It's mis-led not misled
I declare myself king the planet earth, now bow you peasants! (That was easy...)
What a great story!!! Thanks for the info!
Thats a really great story. It illustrates the kindness and the respect of the people living in that era.
I Am Emperor!! You will all be rewarded when i receive power,now my army let us rule!!
I knew this before but now everyone knows now lol
Neil Gaimen wrote a one-shot issue of the Sandman centered on Norton I (ok it was part of a mini-series of one-shots). It's probably my favorite read of the entire series. The title character on a bet, gives Norton a dream which defined his whole life and made him believe he was the emperor of America. Dream's siblings would try to break this dream based on the terms of the bet and each failed. On his passing Norton meets Death, Dream's eldest sister, who happily welcomes him and comments that out of all those to claimed to be rulers of anything, Norton was her favorite.
Your best video yet. Loved it!!!
You really should have mentioned Neil Gaiman in this piece. 100 percent of people I've met who were familiar with Emperor Norton I was due to their having read about him in Gaiman's Sandman story "Three Septembers and a January".
I learned about him from my grandma.
I learned about him through the Lucky Luke comics.
this man was a human meme
All hail Emperor Norton!
that is just awesome...keep up the seriously funny wierd and very informative information. love the channel
Though Norton failed as an Emperor, he went on to create a highly successful line of anti-virus calligraphy pens.
"Three Septembers and A January"
Thanks to Neil Gaiman for telling me about Emperor Norton I.
I never knew about this. Very interesting! He was a real character! I like how people went along with it and gave him a place in society instead of just ignoring him as a crazy person. 😊
Finally, it is about time this dude was mentioned somewhere. He is easily my favorite U.S. Emperor.
Soo he was a real life Palpatine?!
Yes. he shouts "Unlimited, Parking space!!!!!"
TheSaturdayTechChannel WithMusicAndGaming lol, except I had UNLIMITED POWER
So this guy basically lived off of being a meme
Daily I am enthralled by the content but this just THIS takes the cake. I never knew I am so happy I have this new knowledge if only for the did you know factor.
Good video, i love to know this, i'm from Mexico and i was fascinated, i didn't know that Mexico would have had another emperor apart from Maximilian of Habsburg and Agustin De Iturbide, really, thanks for the video 💖
2:02 you mis-pronounced "misled"
14K = 1.1M today
250K = 6.8M today
Either that math is a off or there was some super high inflation over a just a few years in the early 1850s
40K
Known about "His Majesty" for quite some time. 25 years ago I ran a snack distribution co. and one of the items we carried was *Emperor Norton Sourdough Snacks*, naturally from San Francisco.
One of the few things I love about my home town of SF; he was a great guy!
2:02 misled?
BobagemLixo WTF RIGHT?¿?
One of the major Discordian saints. Hail Eris! Hell yes!
This is a fantastic, random and hilarious bit of history. Well done video. I loved it!
Truly my favorite emperor and US leader. I actually first heard about him when he appeared in Neil Gaiman's Sandman comic book series. I did some digging after that and found real admiration for him. Though I was born long after your death I remain your faithful citizen my beloved and eminently wise emperor.
I first heard about him when he did appear in a Lucky Luke comic. He is indeed a very intressting character in history