Problem: Background: Edward Rickenbacker was born in Columbus, Ohio, to Swiss German-speaking immigrants. From childhood, he loved machines and experimented with them, encouraged by his father's words: "A machine has to have a purpose". In what was to become one of the defining characteristics of Rickenbacker's life, he nearly died many times in events ranging from an early run-in with a horse-drawn carriage, to a botched tonsillectomy, to airplane crashes. His first life-threatening experience occurred when he was in the "Horsehead Gang".
Context: Rickenbacker wanted to join the Allied troops in World War I, but the U.S. had not yet entered the war. He had several chance encounters with aviators, including a fortuitous incident in which he repaired a stranded aircraft for Townsend F. Dodd, a man who later became General John J. Pershing's aviation officer and an important contact in Rickenbacker's attempt to join air combat.  During World War I, with its anti-German atmosphere, he -- like many other German Americans -- changed his surname; the "h" in "Rickenbacher" became a "k" in an effort to "take the Hun out of his name." As he was already well known at the time, the change received wide publicity. "From then on", as he wrote in his autobiography, "most Rickenbachers were practically forced to spell their name in the way I had..."  He believed his given name "looked a little plain." He signed his name 26 times, with a different middle initial each time. After settling upon "V", he selected "Vernon" as a middle name.  In 1916, Rickenbacker traveled to London, with the aim of developing an English car for American races. Because of an erroneous press story and Rickenbacker's known Swiss heritage, he was suspected of being a spy. En route and in England, agents closely monitored his actions.  On a sea voyage back to America, he came up with the idea to recruit his race car driver friends as fighter pilots, on the theory that such men were accustomed to tight spaces and high speeds. His suggestion was ignored by the military.
Question: Was there any fact that you found interesting about his life before he entered US?
Answer: he came up with the idea to recruit his race car driver friends as fighter pilots, on the theory that such men were accustomed to tight spaces and high speeds.

Problem: Background: 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.
Context: 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.
Question: Who is Lawrence?
Answer:
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.