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Reputedly the first person to set foot on the islands was the Spanish navigator Juan de BermUdez (1503–11), but they remained uninhabited, despite visits by the Spanish and English, until Sir George Somers and a group of colonists on their way to Virginia were shipwrecked there in 1609. This incident was known to Shakespeare when he wrote The Tempest. Long called Somers Islands, the Bermudas were first governed by chartered companies but were acquired by the crown in 1684. The harbor of St. George was a base for privateers during the War of 1812, and the island was a center for Confederate blockade runners during the American Civil War.
During World War II the islands played an important strategic role as the site of a U.S. naval and air force base. Internal self-government was granted in 1968, and the United Bermuda party was in power for the next 30 years. Sir John Swan was prime minister from 1982 to 1995, when he resigned after voters rejected independence (which he had supported); David Saul succeeded him. Saul resigned in 1997 and was succeeded by Pamela Gordon, the first woman prime minister. In 1998 the Progressive Labor party came to power, with Jennifer Smith as prime minister. Although Smith led her party to victory again in 2003, a party revolt led to her resignation and Alex Scott became prime minister.
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