September 17

On the 17th in 1859, Joshua Abraham Norton with little prompting and even less public fanfare declared himself Emperor Norton I of these United States and Protector of Mexico. One of Emperor Norton’s many pieces of legislation was the outlawing of the word ‘Frisco’ when referring to San Francisco. That alone guarantees his fame. Emperor Norton opened the door for a new breed of royalty, such as David Edward Sutch, who in 1963 assumed the title of Screaming Lord Sutch, 3rd Earl of Harrow and founded the Monster Raving Loony Party. This entry comes just a bit too late to get into Louis T. Hardin who assumed the name Moondog. He also lived a rather, how shall I put it, unusual life. He died on September 8, 1999 so I guess I will wait until next year to write more about him because he really deserves an entry all to himself. He was however born in May of 1916 so perhaps then would be a more appropriate time.