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During World War II, the British built several war forts in the waters surrounding Britain; these were meant to protect against German attacks. One of these forts was H.M. Fort Roughs, which was put into place in 1943. After the war ended, these forts were gradually abandoned, and many of them were destroyed; Fort Roughs would have been destroyed as well, if not for the fact that it was placed more than twice as far away from shore as originally intended, and was therefore outside of Britain's territorial waters. In 1956, all personnel were removed from the fort, leaving it completely and officially abandoned.
In 1966, Roy Bates came to occupy this fort. 2 September the following year, he declared it as a sovereign principality: The Principality of Sealand, and became its first Prince.
This did not come without opposition of course, and Britain came to the decision that they could not have what they referred to as a "possible Cuba" 7 nautical miles off their east coast. Several other forts near Sealand had also been left un-destroyed, and Britain sent its military out to destroy these as a means of threatening the newly-established Principality. The crew sent consisted of several helicopters carrying explosives, and a tugboat carrying a demolition crew. And occupant of the tugboat reportedly had shouted up at the Principality, "You're next," and another British government vessel passed close by soon after. The occupants of this vessel had reportedly been shouting obscenities up at Roy Bates's two children, Michael and Penelope (then 14 and 16, respectively), up until the point that warning shots were fired across the bow of the vessel; at this point, the British retreated.
Being that Bates was still at the time technically considered a British citizen, he was issued a summons on 25 November, 1968, on the basis of illegal possession of firearms. However, the court ruled that Sealand's location outside of British territory meant that the British court held no jurisdiction; the judge, in summing up, made the statement “This is a swash buckling incident perhaps more akin to the time of “Sir Francis Drake” but it is my judgment is that the UK courts have no jurisdiction.” This is considered the Principality's first de facto recognition.

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De facto recognition: When something is referred to as being "de facto," this means that although not officially legally recognized, it has been recognized as existing. Meaning, although the micronation has not been officially recognized by any other governments, other governments have acknowledged its existence.