Welcome to Cappies cultural corner [or awsome stuff you havent heard of but should]

Wow its been a year and im revisiting this fun topic especially since im getting some time off school coming right up.Id like to introduce you all to Emperor Norton.The First Emperor of the United States of America and the Protector of Mexico



Joshua Norton was a businessman of some wealth from South Africa who emigrated to San Fransisco in the mid 1800s.He had a good measure of success turning a 40,000 dollar investment from his parents estate into an impressive 250K fortune which was a huge amount of money in that era..This was all well and good until Norton saw an opportunity to make even more money when China experienced a famine in 1849 and decided to ban the importation of Rice He then cornered the market on rice using his fortune knowing that the price would skyrocket and he could eventually sell it for a massive profit

The problem was that Peru turned out to have a pretty impressive rice growing set-up going on and appeared out of nowhere with a massive shipment of rice which cause the price to plummet as the demand was met with a glut of already high priced rice Norton then spent several years in count saying he was misled by rice deals as to the quality of said rice but couldnt get the contract nullified and in the end was left destitute by 1858.It wouldnt be much of a story if things ended there with just some random businessman losing his fortune but after a few years out of the public eye Joshua Norton suddenly appears on the scene in impressive fashion

It seems the financial difficulties had left poor Norton a little mentally unstable.Seeing several things he disliked in American politics Norton stepped forward and wrote a letter telling Congress to disband and that he was now the First ever Emperor of the United States of America.He would begin walking around in one Military uniform and beaver hat with peacock feathers his cane and two stray dogs acting the role that his insanity lead him to believe was appropriate

Norton would continue to issue decrees over the years calling for the dissolution of Congress banning their assembly calling upon the army to overthrow the government in a peaceful Coup and called upon the Catholic Church to declare him Emperor officially.While he never quite gained all the recognition he was calling for he did manage to make a big difference in his home town of San Fransisco

See the people down there took a liking to his sheer audacity and sincere belief that he was now a divine benevolent Monarch looking out for the good of the people of the United States.He created an idea of a suspension bridge that would one day inspire the creation of the Golden Gate Bridge.He began personally acting as an unofficial safety inspector throughout the city making sure public works were maintained he issued his own currency which was honored in San Fransisco no play would open without inviting the Emperor and seeking his approval Restaurants gave him free meals and hoped for his seal of approval making it as a restaurant of quality and often engaged in philosophical discussions around the city.

The good Emperor was once arrested in 1867 by a police officer who attempted to have him committed.Fortunately the chief of police noted that the Emperor had "shed no blood; robbed no one; and despoiled no country; which is more than can be said of his fellows in that line" and freed him.The Emperor bore no grudge and quickly issued a royal pardon to the officer forgiving him for his assault on his royal personage.

His greatest moment came during a race riot in the Chinese section of town in the 1870s.There was always alot of tension with the Chinese and violent riots would often break out with them as targets.The Emperor cared for "His Chinese subjects" as much as any other and he was able to quell a potential large riot by merely interposing himself with a growing mob and daring them to go through him while merely standing in one spot reciting the lords prayer

In 1870 during the Census of the United States one Joshua Norton 50 years old living at 624 commercial street was listed and with the occupation of "Emperor".

Said emperor would reach the end of his life by 1880 collapsing in the street on his way to a lecture and with a carriage unable to arrive in time to take him to a hospital.He died in relative poverty and was to be buried in a simple coffin had the city not arranged a proper funeral for a Monarch.His funeral was attended by 30,000 people [About 10% of the city at the time] and several newspaper solemnly noted the passing of the honored Monarch that the city grew to love

Pretty epic, 30,000 people at the funeral

Crazy people really are the best

Relevant to the whole Final Fantasy 7 fandom. I bring up Final Fantasy Tactics to "FF Fans" and they reply with "Oh Yeah! I have that on my DS!" -Sigh- FFT is closely related to Tactics Ogre. The original FFT boasted sprites that were so plausible to look at by the eye. Spells were detailed and vibrant. Have you ever cast Holy in that game? How about summoning Bahamaut? The story was deep and orientated towards an Adult Audience. It's difficulty curve is pretty crazy, requiring a great deal of grinding and class changing. With about more than 20 classes you could have a dragoon jumping around the map while casting off holy spells. Final Fantasy Tactics or it's PSP Remake. Is my most favorite FF game and it deserves such a spot.

Ok im not even gonna try and describe this one

Awesome

Just going to leave a picture of probably the greatest RPG ever.

Bigglestheman wrote:Just going to leave a picture of probably the greatest RPG ever.

Interesting fact You never fight that boss in a cold region and Merle is using Fire not her in game element of Ice.Since its Akira Toriyamas artwork im gonna go out on a limb and blame TOEI and say that pic is filler