Time: 1605
November 5th, every year, bonfires and fireworks are still lit across England to remember the failed Gunpowder Plot by Guy Fawkes in London.
Guy Fawkes story
James I was King of England in 1605. A lot of people did not like the Kings ways. 13 young men, included Guy Fawkes decided that they need to take action to get rid of the King.
The group of men led by Robert Catesby planned to blow up the Houses of Parliament in order to kill the King and the Members of Parliament. We would call these group of men today terrorists or extremists.
36 barrels of gunpowder were put in a cellar under the House of Lords (Houses of Parliament). Some of the men started to wonder if was such a good idea. Many innocent people could die if their plan was successful.
One of the men who was plotting the attack wrote an anonymous (unknown) letter to his friend, Lord Monteagle and member of Parliament. The letter warned him to stay away from the Houses of Parliament on November 5th. The letter made its way to the King and obviously, the King wanted to stop the attack.
How did Guy Fawkes die?
On the morning of November 5th, the King sent men to stop the gunpowder plot and they came across Guy Fawkes in the cellar before anyone had managed to set alight to the gunpowder. They hunted down the other men involved in the plot and either killed them or sent them to trial. As a result, Guy Fawkes and the others were sentenced to death.
On the day of the hanging Guy Fawkes climbed the ladder to the hanging platform and jumped from the ladder. He fell and broke his neck resulting in an instant death.
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Ten Facts about...Guy Fawkes and what happened on November 5th 1605.
BBC Bitesize - Guy FawkesBitesize introduces Guy Fawkes, the man most closely associated with the Gunpowder Plot.
Why do we have bonfire night?
On the evening that they stopped the plot, people lit bonfires to celebrate the fact that the King was safe. Ever since then it has become tradition that we light bonfires and have fireworks on November 5th.
The Story of Guy Fawkes
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