The Six Degrees of Sir Francis Bacon

[Speck Tater]

It occurred to me that the old game of seven degrees of Kevin Bacon could also be played backwards in time.

For example, which American presidents can you connect to through someone you personally knew who knew someone who knew someone who knew that president? I can connect to George Washington via a family tree connection to a revolutionary war officer who served directly under Washington. From Washington I could connect to all sorts of other historical figures and heads of state. I wonder If I could establish a verifiable chain of connections to Genghis Khan? :)

I also wondered how many famous composers I might be able to connect to, like Mozart and Beethoven, but I haven't found any links to them yet.

It's probably not even possible to establish links to ancient figures like Plato or Julius Caesar, but it might be interesting to see just how far back you could reach with documented connections. For example, if I could find documentary proof that someone who met George Washington also met Mozart then I'd have that connection established.

[Swede]

1. MMMMMmmmmmm, bacon................

http://baconbaconbacon.tumblr.com/

[Speck Tater]

2. with Spam. Yummm. Eggs bacon and spam. nt

[MilesColtrane]

3. Paul Hamilton, the third Sec. of the Navy is one of my...

great, great, great, great, great grandfathers.

He was appointed by President Madison, but that would make my connection to Madison eight degrees away.

There's also a Lieutenant in the Continental Army back there (NY regiment) that could have had a tangible connection to Washington, but there is no evidence, and he's too far back for six degrees anyway.