舊金山冷知識：曾經有人在這裏稱帝，自封美國皇帝
誰說美國沒有皇帝，舊金山之前就有個人稱帝，這個人叫約書亞·諾頓 Joshua Norton
圖片來源：Wikipedia
但他可不是什麼一方軍閥，他就是個做生意的人，在這裏做了一筆鉅虧的生意，名利雙輸，結果等他再次出現的時候就說自己要做皇帝了。
更神奇的是，舊金山居然還真有不少人擁戴他，雖然他一點政治實權都沒有。他名下還發行了貨幣。
以他的名義發行的10美元.圖片來源：Wikipedia
當然，外界普遍還是認爲他是個瘋子，當時舊金山本地也有商家出售以他爲主題的紀念品來賺錢。
In September 1859, San Francisco’s favorite eccentric resident, Joshua Abraham Norton, declared himself America’s emperor. Norton initially made a living as a businessman, but he lost his fortune investing in Peruvian rice to sell in China due to a Chinese rice shortage. He bought rice at 12 cents per pound from Peruvian ships, but more Peruvian ships arrived in port which caused the price to drop sharply to 4 cents. He then lost a lawsuit in which he tried to void his rice contract, and his public prominence faded. He re-emerged in September 1859, laying claim to the position of Emperor of the United States. Though Norton received many favors from the city, merchants also capitalized on his notoriety by selling souvenirs bearing his name. "San Francisco lived off the Emperor Norton," Norton's biographer William Drury wrote, "not Norton off San Francisco."
1859年9月，舊金山備受歡迎的怪人約書亞·亞伯拉罕·諾頓曾經宣佈自己爲美國皇帝。諾頓最初以經商爲生，但他在投資祕魯大米時虧了很多錢。當時因爲中國大米短缺，他採購了祕魯大米，打算賣給中國人。他以12美分/磅的價格從祕魯船隻上採購了大米，但很多祕魯船隻都抵達了港口，這使大米價格驟降至4美分。後來，他試圖通過訴訟使他的大米合同無效，結果又輸掉了官司，而他的公衆知名度也隨之下降。1859年9月他再次出現，聲稱要成爲美國皇帝。儘管諾頓在這座城市裏受到了很多人的喜愛，但商人也利用了他的壞名聲來賺錢，出售印有他名字的紀念品。諾頓的傳記作者威廉·德魯裏寫道，“是舊金山靠諾頓皇帝賺錢，而不是諾頓靠舊金山賺錢。”
