Emperor Norton: The Emperor of the United States
14m | Oct 19, 2026In eighteen fifty-nine, a bankrupt businessman declared himself Emperor of the United States, and the city of San Francisco decided to let him. This is the true history of the beloved madman who reigned for twenty-one years.
On Six Feet of History, host August Mercer tells the real story of Emperor Norton: the free meals, the currency he printed that people actually honoured, the police who saluted him, and the tens of thousands who mourned him. A warm, strange story of a city that chose to meet madness with mercy.
If you love true history, forgotten history, strange true stories, and the human corners of the past, this is your history podcast. New stories every day. Follow Six Feet of History and subscribe wherever you listen. A Dark Whisper Studios production.
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