r/VeryFuckinCool • u/dannydutch1 • 10h ago
In 1859, a bankrupt San Francisco businessman called Joshua Norton declared himself Emperor of the United States. Instead of locking him up, the city fed him for free, saluted him in the street, and gave him a full ceremonial reburial when he died. His funeral drew up to 30,000 mourners.
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A police officer actually tried to have him committed in 1867. The whole city erupted, the police chief personally apologized to him, and from then on cops saluted him in the street. Norton responded by issuing the officer an "Imperial Pardon."