IN: Jason Leonard  (born 14 August 1968) is an English former rugby union player, and has been the president of the Rugby Football Union since 2015. Nicknamed The Fun Bus, Leonard was a prop forward who won 114 caps for England and five for the British and Irish Lions. His total of 119 was a world record until 2006, when it was surpassed by George Gregan. Leonard played in England teams which won four Grand Slams (1991, 1992, 1995 and 2003) and the 2003 Rugby World Cup, and was part of the British and Irish Lions squad that won the test series during their 1997 tour of South Africa.

Leonard won his first cap in a 'friendly' on 28 July 1990, against Argentina at Buenos Aires. At the age of 21 he was the youngest prop forward to ever play for England. The visitors were made to feel unwelcome, however, as the game was played on the 8th anniversary of the Falklands War. Leonard describes in his autobiography that the crowd were throwing oranges (among other things) at the England players. The most interesting object he saw on the pitch was a bathroom tap. England eventually won the game 25-12; it proved a baptism of fire for the young Leonard.  Leonard played his whole England career in a largely dominant pack and in his early career played with established forwards such as Brian Moore, Wade Dooley, Dean Richards, Mick Skinner, Mike Teague and Peter Winterbottom. The England pack of this era helped England Rugby win much success, often playing a limited 10-man game which suited the large and physical England forwards. During this period, England won back-to-back Grand Slams in 1991 and 1992. Despite losing the opening pool match to New Zealand 18-12, England made it to the Rugby World Cup Final in 1991, losing 12-6 to pre-tournament favourites Australia. In that game, England played open rugby, like they had in the Five Nations in 1990, although it was the forward-dominated 10-man game which earlier in 1991 had won them the Five Nations Grand Slam, as well as the quarter-final against France and semi-final against Scotland. The front row of Leonard, Brian Moore and Jeff Probyn was fearsome, and the England scrum was famously solid, with this trio able to more than hold their own against any front row in world.  Against Wales in 1992, Leonard suffered a neck injury: he experienced a numbing sensation in his right arm, but had no idea he had ruptured a vertibrae in his neck, so played out the remainder of the match. Later, he required emergency surgery, where bone from his hip had to be grafted into his neck. Leonard's career was in grave doubt, after only 10 tests. Due to brilliant surgery and his rehabilitation regime, however, he made a full recovery, winning his 11th cap against Canada at Twickenham that autumn without missing an England test. It is worth noting that in those days when the RFU was an amateur sporting body, Leonard was only compensated with a mere PS800.  In 1993, Leonard was selected for his first British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand.

Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?

OUT: Against Wales in 1992, Leonard suffered a neck injury:


IN: George Washington (February 22, 1732 - December 14, 1799) was an American statesman and soldier who served as the first President of the United States from 1789 to 1797 and was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He served as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and later presided over the 1787 convention that drafted the United States Constitution. As a driving force behind the nation's establishment he came to be known as the "father of the country," both during his lifetime and to this day. Washington was born into the provincial gentry of Colonial Virginia to a family of wealthy planters who owned tobacco plantations and slaves, which he inherited.

George Washington was the first child of Augustine Washington and his second wife Mary Ball Washington, born on their Popes Creek Estate near Colonial Beach in Westmoreland County, Virginia. He was born on February 11, 1731, according to the Julian calendar and Annunciation Style of enumerating years then in use in the British Empire. The Gregorian calendar was adopted within the British Empire in 1752, and it renders a birth date of February 22, 1732.  Washington was of primarily English gentry descent, especially from Sulgrave, England. His great-grandfather John Washington immigrated to Virginia in 1656 and began accumulating land and slaves, as did his son Lawrence and his grandson, George's father Augustine. Augustine was a tobacco planter who also tried his hand at iron manufacturing, and later he was the Justice of the Westmoreland County Court. In Washington's youth, his family was moderately prosperous and considered members of Virginia's "country level gentry" of "middling rank," rather than one of the leading wealthy planter elite families. His wife Sally was also a friend of Washington and an early romantic interest, and maintained correspondence when she moved to England with her father, but most of the letters were intercepted by the British during the war.  Lawrence Washington inherited a plantation from their father on the Potomac River at Little Hunting Creek which he named Mount Vernon in honor of his commanding officer Vice Admiral Edward Vernon. Washington inherited Ferry Farm upon his father's death and eventually acquired Mount Vernon after Lawrence's death.  The death of his father prevented Washington from an education at England's Appleby Grammar School such as his older brothers had received. He achieved the equivalent of an elementary school education from a variety of tutors, as well as from a school run by an Anglican clergyman in or near Fredericksburg. His education totaled seven or eight years, while he lived with relatives at various places that included the Westmoreland and the Chotank regions of Virginia, as well as Ferry Farm and Mount Vernon. He was trained in mathematics, trigonometry, and surveying that developed a natural talent of draftsmanship and map making. He was also an avid reader and purchased books on military affairs, agriculture, and history, as well as the popular novels of his times. There was talk of securing an appointment for him in the Royal Navy when he was 15, but it was dropped when his widowed mother objected.  In 1751, Washington traveled with Lawrence to Barbados (his only trip abroad) in the hope that the climate would be beneficial to Lawrence's declining health, as he was suffering from tuberculosis. Washington contracted smallpox during the trip, which left his face slightly scarred but immunized him against future exposures to the disease. Lawrence's health failed to improve, and he returned to Mount Vernon where he died in the summer of 1752. His position as Adjutant General (militia leader) of Virginia was divided into four district offices after his death, and Washington was appointed by Governor Dinwiddie as one of the four district adjutants in February 1753, with the rank of major in the Virginia militia. He also became a freemason while in Fredericksburg during this period, although his involvement was minimal.

What did he use the land and slaves for?

OUT:
tobacco