John Hancock is amazing

Now that the weather is getting a little colder there aren't as many walkers out during lunchtime, and thus fewer unusual events, however I did happen to have a funny conversation about two weeks ago. I was walking on the outcropping part of Memorial Drive and a foreign man stopped me and pointed to the John Hancock tower and asked if I knew what it was. I told him it was the John Hancock tower. He asked what that was so I said they were a financial company, like a bank. He just stared at me and didn't really react, which was disappointing so then I said, "John Hancock was one of the original signers of the Declaration of Independence."

That got him very excited. His face brightened and he exclaimed, "John Hancock was one of the signers of the Declaration of the United States of America? That's amazing!" He was being serious too, not sarcastic. He then asked me if it was the tallest building and I explained that it was a little taller than the Pru. He said something again about it being the tallest building so I mentioned that it was just the tallest in Boston. I didn't want him thinking that it was the tallest in the U.S. or anything like that. He made a final comment about not being able to take a good picture due to the bright sunlight and then I walked away, not wanting to spend my whole lunch discussing Boston history.

After the conversation I was very curious as to why John Hancock fascinated him so much. I thought of a few things...was it because...
a) he loves American history and was excited that so much of it took place in Boston
b) he was confused and thought the tower was named after John Hancock, not a financial company
c) he found it amusing that a financial company was named after John Hancock
d) he thought John Hancock actually resided in the tower and was amazed that he was alive after all these year

Take your best guess...I still haven't figured it out!