RG Community News out of Australia pointed me to this short history of Rhythmic Gymnastics (with quite a Canadian flavour) posted on eliteRG.com.
It’s especially good for those of us who do not know the history of the sport.
Rhythmic Gymnastics grew out of the Swedish system of free exercise developed in 1814 by Per Henrik Ling.
Ling promoted aesthetic gymnastics in which students expressed their feelings and emotions through bodily movement but it was still calisthenics without apparatus.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 