Cornish Rex History

The Cornish Rex breed is a fairly young one, the first Cornish Rex was "Kallibunker". Born in Cornwall, England on July 21, 1950 to an ordinary barn cat, he was the only kitten with a uniquely distinctive coat...it was very short and curly. His owner had the insight to see the specialness of this kitten and took him to a geneticist to confirm that he was a new mutation. Subsequently a breeding program was created to create more rex cats. In 1956 the first rex cats were imported to the US, and subsequently bred to siamese (along with orientals and other like breeds). Thus giving the American bred Cornish Rex it's more streamline, angular features. (the Cornish Rex in England and Europe remained somewhat stockier than it's American brother).
In 1962 the CFA recognized the breed and began registering them, in 1964 the breed was eligible to compete for championship. However, ironically, the color-point pattern that was inherited from the heavy use of siamese was not recognized for championship until 1983, thus making a color-point Cornish Rex difficult to find, and some breeders still biased against them because they were involved for so long in a world where the colorpoint Cornish Rex was not show-quality and therefore not breeding quality.
Interesting facts about the Cornish Rex which have been a huge added bonus to my breeding plans, is not only because of how well people whom are allergic to cats do with them but also because they are very low shedding, and whatever hairs they do shed (nothing is completely shed-proof...humans shed hair too) is practicly un-noticeable because of how short it is, whether it's a black rex who lounges on a white sofa, or vice-versa, you'll be very hard put to find any hairs they may have left behind.
Also, through sheer luck in the creation of the Cornish Rex breed, there have not been one single health issue discovered in them (nearly every breed/species in the world suffers from some sort of genetic disease). They are healthier than horses! and they are also known for their long lives, most of them live well into their late teens, and I would hazard a guess that quite a few have lived into their 20's too.