January 8

The United States, with its reputation for being a nation where freedom and unbounded opportunity are there for the taking, has long been a beacon in the darkness calling out to people seeking a better life. In the 1840s, Joshua Abraham Norton, an orphaned Englishman, saw that light and made a beeline for America. As immigrants before and after him had done, Norton arrived on our shores ill prepared for the struggles he would face. He stepped ashore with only the clothes on his back, unbridled hope, and a suitcase filled with over $40,000 in cash. Inexplicably, on September 17, 1859, Norton proclaimed himself Emperor Norton I, Emperor of these United States and Protector of Mexico. His reign was unsullied by scandals involving small boys, though it was chock full of financial impropriety. Despite the handicaps and obstacles Norton faced, he would, by dint of hard work, rise to the challenges that confronted him and die alone, alcoholic, and penniless on a sidewalk in San Francisco on the 8th in 1880.