The shipwreck of the Sea Venture on Bermuda shores in 1609 was the inspiration for William Shakespeare's play, "The Tempest".

Shakespeare is thought to have begun work on the play in 1610, after the first reports of the Sea Venture's wreck in a tempestuous storm written by one of the survivors, William Strachey, appeared in England.

The storm and shipwreck featured in Shakespeare's play bear a close resemblance to the events affecting the Sea Venture, and there is even a direct reference to the "still-vex'd Bermoothes".

The anniversary of Shakespeare's birth and death fall on the same day: April 23. This date is also St. George's Day - the saint after whom St. George's town and parish are named.