January 8

The United States has a well-deserved reputation for being a nation where freedom and unbounded opportunity are just sitting there for the taking. The nation 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 have done, Norton arrived on our shores well aware of the struggles he would face. He stepped ashore with only the clothes on his back, unbridled hope, and a tattered suitcase filled with over $40,000 in cash. Inexplicably, on September 17, 1859, Norton had proclaimed himself Emperor Norton I, Emperor of these United States and Protector of Mexico. His reign as emperor was unsullied by scandals involving small boys, though it was chock full of financial impropriety. Despite the handicaps and obstacles he faced by dint of hard work Norton rose to the challenges that confronted him and would manage to die alone, alcoholic, and penniless on a sidewalk in San Francisco on the 8th in 1880. The San Francisco Chronicle published Norton’s obituary on its front page under the headline "Le Roi est Mort" ("The King is Dead"). They noted Norton’s passing with great sympathy stating "[o]n the reeking pavement, in the darkness of a moon-less night under the dripping rain..., Norton I, by the grace of God, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico, departed this life".
Norton was buried on January 10, 1880 and his funeral was attended by more than 30,000 people. There were those who doubted Norton’s abilities as a supreme ruler but on January 11 there was a total eclipse of the Sun, make of that what you will.