History of Rugby, Warwickshire
Rugby School, one of England's oldest and most prestigious public schools, rose to national prominence in the 1820s through the teaching methods pioneered by its headmaster, Dr Thomas Arnold, which contributed to a radical change in Public School education in England. Most of the present school buildings, near the centre of the town, date from this period. In 1823 William Webb Ellis is said to have invented Rugby Football when he picked up the ball and ran with it.
Rugby union in Slovakia
Rugby union was introduced to Czechoslovakia (as it was then) by the Czech/Moravian writer Ondřej Sekora, when he returned from living in France in 1926, with a rugby ball and set of rules. It developed during the interbellum, but was severely disrupted by the tribulations of World War II, and the Cold War.