His name is a hot topic these days, thanks to a smash-hit Broadway musical based on his life, surprisingly set to hip-hop music.Now, it seems, there are even more surprises surrounding Alexander Hamilton, Founding Father of the US; one being that he was most likely Jewish.

Dr Andrew Porwancher, professor of legal history at Oklahama University, investigated the birth registries where Mr Hamilton grew up. There, he found that his mother, Rachel Faucitt, converted to Judaism in 1745.