Every year on Nov. 5, the United Kingdom holds a huge kingdom wide celebration of the legendary Guy Fawkes with a national Bonfire Night to celebrate Fawkes' failed attempt to murder the king and blow up Parliament.
While few outside Britain’s United Kingdom have ever heard of Guy Fawkes, he is really quite a big deal for millions of British subjects. Millions of Briton’s will celebrate on Thursday this legendary British historical figure and his attempt to blow up the British Houses of Parliament on Nov. 2, 1605.
It is also Bonfire Night all over the British kingdom. The bonfires commemorate the original celebration in 1605 when Fawkes actually failed at his attempt to blow up Parliament and murder the reigning British king at the time, James I, according to USA Today. Briton’s celebrated the failed attempt by lighting fires all over the kingdom on the initial Nov. 5 in 1605. While they were happy their king wasn’t murdered, they also don’t seem to hold Fawkes in any sort of contempt. These celebrations carry the weight of the Fourth of July celebration in America.
At the time Britain was heavily Protestant Christian. Fawkes was a Catholic Christian and he and his fellow Catholics were widely persecuted and violently attacked at the time. The current king, James I, was a Catholic Christian and Fawkes and others hoped he would bring all of the persecution to a halt after 45 years of terror aimed at them by Protestant Christian Queen Elizabeth I. Unfortunately for Fawkes and his fellow Catholics, James I had no desire to rock the proverbial boat.
So, Fawkes and a handful of co-conspirators rounded up 35 barrels of gunpowder with an intent to destroy the Parliament building. Authorities received an anonymous letter that tipped them off to the whole plot. Soldiers raced to the Parliament building where they found Fawkes sitting in the basement in the early morning hours of Nov. 5. Fawkes was about ready to light the fuse. Fawkes and his fellow conspirators were tried and killed.
After that, the King declared Nov. 5 to be a major holiday. All British subjects had to take a loyalty oath by denying that the Catholic Christian Pope has any sway over the British King. Everyone had to show up at a Protestant Christian church on that day to prove their loyalty.
Great bonfires were also lit in celebration and the tradition has continued to this day with the annual celebration being known as Bonfire Night.
