Joshua Norton was a 19th century English immigrant who became financially ruined after a deal went south with a Peurivian rice company. After a long legal battle that reached the California Supreme Court, banks took all of his assets and he wandered the streets of San Francisco for the next 20 years. Not one to accept his fate in the gutter, Joshua declared himself Emporer of the United States and commanded the hearts of his fellow Bay Area residents until his death in 1880. Long live the king.

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