The death of Emperor Norton

1880 Norton I (b. 1811), Emperor of the United States of America and Protector of Mexico, died.

America's greatest leader was on his way to a lecture at the Academy of Natural Sciences in San Francisco when he dropped dead on Grant Avenue.

When he died, the Chronicle newspaper featured the headline: 'Le Roi est Mort':

On the reeking pavement, in the darkness of a moonless 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 I lay in state for two days, his body dressed in a new imperial uniform provided by the city fathers of San Francisco, and respectfully visited by more than 30,000 of his loyal subjects; the funeral cortege on January 10 was two miles long. Area flags were hung at half mast; businesses were closed. The funeral arrangements were the most elaborate San Francisco had ever seen. On January 11, the gods blackened the San Franciscan skies with a total solar eclipse.

The people of San Francisco erected a monument over his grave, with the epitaph:

NORTON I, EMPEROR OF THE UNITED STATES,
PROTECTOR OF MEXICO, JOSHUA A. NORTON, 1819-1880

In 1934, the remains of Emperor Norton I were transferred, again at the expense of the City of San Francisco, to a gravesite of moderate splendour at Woodlawn Cemetery.

In the religion of Discordianism, Emperor Norton is considered a Saint, Second Class, the highest spiritual honour attainable by an actual (non-fictional) human being.

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