Guy Fawkes Night or Bonfire Night is an annual commemoration observed on November 5th primarily in Great Britain, to celebrate the failure of the gunpowder plot in 1605 aimed to blow up the House of Lords. This was led by Guy Fawkes and other Catholic plotters who had intended to assassinate the Protestant king James I and his parliament and replace him with a Catholic Queen.
To celebrate that the king survived, people, lit bonfires around London, and months later the Observance of the 5th November Act enforced an annual public day of thanksgiving for the plot's failure.
We have all celebrated Guy Fawkes Night but below are some facts that not everybody is aware of:
- It was actually Robert Catesby that led the gunpowder plot and not Guy Fawkes
- Guy Fawkes was caught guarding the 36 barrels of gunpowder and was arrested together with 13 other people
- It was once illegal not to celebrate Bonfire Night in Britain
- Guy Fawkes used the name Guido when fighting alongside the Spaniards in the 80 Year War against the Protestant Dutch
- Guy Fawkes has an island named after him in the Galapagos Islands but the reason behind this is unknown (escape plan?)
- St. Peters school in York is the only place in England not to celebrate Bonfire Night out of respect for their former pupil, Guy Fawkes
Bonfires are traditional in Spain but on La Noche de San Juan to celebrate the arrival of summer but we can talk about that when the time comes. . .
