Bermuda history

In the 16th century Spaniard Juan de Bermudes discovered the islands. He visited there in 1503 but failed to claim them for his country. It was not until 1609 that British Admiral Sir George Somers' flag-ship the "Sea Venture", on its way to the colony of Virginia with supplies and settlers, was caught in a hurricane and separated from the 9 ship flotilla, wrecking on Bermuda's reefs. This providential mishap led to British colonization of the Islands in 1612. The Islands were named the Somer Islands, often misspelled the Summer Islands. In 1620, the House of Assembly was formed, giving some measure of internal self-government. They won a charter for self-government on dissolution of the Somers Island Company in the late 1600's.

For more than three and a half centuries Bermuda has remained under the flag of Great Britain and Bermudians are proud of the fact that their country is the oldest British Colony with a House of Assembly since 1620.

Due to the islands' isolation, for many years Bermuda remained an outpost of 17th-century British civilization, with an economy based on the use of the islands' Bermuda Juniper trees for shipbuilding, and the salt trade.

In the early 20th century, Bermuda's tourism industry began to develop and thrive; Bermuda has prospered economically since World War II. Internal self-government was bolstered by the establishment of a formal constitution in 1968; debate about independence has ensued, although a 1995 independence referendum was defeated.