Fastest way to get first n prime numbers

firstNprimes.py

def historic(n):
    # Reference: https://stackoverflow.com/a/1638415/6908282
    def prime(i, primes):
        for prime in primes:
            if not (i == prime or i % prime):
                return False
        primes.add(i)
        return i

    primes = set([2])
    i, p = 2, 0
    while True:
        if prime(i, primes):
            p += 1
            if p == n:
                return sorted(list(primes))
        i += 1


print(historic(1000))