What is Emperor Norton?
[[File:Joshua A Norton2.jpg|right|150px|Emperor Norton]] '''Joshua Abraham Norton''', or '''Emperor Norton''' (1819? - 1880) was a man who declared himself Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico.<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist1/norton.html |title=Norton I, Emperor of the United States |work=sfmuseum.org |accessdate=November 3, 2010 }}</ref> He was born in London to John and Sarah Norton. but no one knows his actual birthday or what year he was born in. Before he became emperor he was a citizen of [[San Francisco]]. Norton spent a lot of his early life in South Africa. Before he was emperor he made a living by being a businessman. He lost a lot of money by trying to control the [[rice]] [[market]] in San Francisco by buying all the rice he could find. This did not work because ships came with more rice.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/368233/the_first_emperor_of_the_united_states.html?cat=49 |title=The First Emperor of the United States: Joshua Norton - Associated Content - associatedcontent.com |work=associatedcontent.com |accessdate=November 3, 2010 |archive-date=July 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100722175636/http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/368233/the_first_emperor_of_the_united_states.html?cat=49 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Emperor Norton I died on January 8, 1880. The reason of his death is unknown. He collapsed on the corner of California and Grant on his way to a lecture. The next day, he had his funeral. During Emperor Norton’s funeral, a solar eclipse took place. The whole city came to his funeral, and all of them mourned. Emperor Norton is now buried at Woodlawn Cemetery. This is what his gravestone says: <poem><center> NORTON I EMPEROR OF THE UNITED STATES AND PROTECTOR OF MEXICO JOSHUA A. NORTON 1816 - 1880 </center></poem> ==Influence== Writer [[Mark Twain]] based the character of The King in [[The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn]] on Norton.<ref>{{Cite web |url= https://www.pbs.org/weta/the