10 Facts You Should Know About Guy Fawkes Night

10 Facts You Should Know About Guy Fawkes Night

On November 5th, people across Great Britain celebrate Guy Fawkes Night with bonfires and fireworks. Centuries after his failed attempt to blow up the British Parliament, Fox’s image remains prevalent in popular culture, thanks to films such as V for revenge (2005). Here are 10 interesting facts about Foxx and the vacation his attempted betrayals inspired.

  1. Guy Fawkes was a secret Catholic.
  2. Guy Fawkes played a major role in the Gunpowder Plot.
  3. An anonymous letter foiled the Gunpowder Plot.
  4. Guy Fawkes was sentenced to death for his involvement in the Gunpowder Plot.
  5. The first Guy Fawkes Night was celebrated on November 5, 1606.
  6. Children singing songs about Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot.
  7. People still celebrate Guy Fawkes Night.
  8. Guy Fawkes’ distinctive look inspired the mask V for revenge.
  9. You can see Guy Fawkes’ lantern.
  10. The Houses of Parliament are still being searched for hidden weapons.

Guy Fawkes was a secret Catholic.

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Guy Fawkes. | Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Why Guy Fawkes important? Guy (also known as Guido) Fawkes was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1570. He was raised in a Protestant family, but secretly converted to Catholicism as a young man. When he was 21, he went to fight alongside the Spanish Catholics in Flanders. During the fighting, he became an expert in explosives. This, coupled with his fanatical Catholicism, is what led him to be recruited into the Gunpowder Plot.

Guy Fawkes played a major role in the Gunpowder Plot.

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Conspirators in the Gunpowder Plot. | Hulton Archive/Getty Images

England became a Protestant country after the Reformation. As such, Catholics were persecuted and forced to practice their religion in secret. A wealthy Catholic named Robert Catesby decided that the only solution to this discrimination was to overthrow King James VI and I and his government. He recruited a number of other Catholics, including Fawkes, and they conspired together Vegetable gunpowder Under the Houses of the British Parliament and blowing it up high.

The conspirators rented a cellar under the Houses of Parliament. Disguised as a servant named John Johnson, Fox began filling him with powder kegs. Once the explosives were in place and Parliament was confirmed to be in session, ensuring that the House of Commons was full of MPs, the ignition date was set: 5 November 1605.


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An anonymous letter foiled the Gunpowder Plot.

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Guy Fawkes was arrested while preparing the Gunpowder Plot. | Heritage Images/Getty Images

Everything was going according to plan, until one of the conspirators decided to write a letter Anonymous letter To the Catholic Member of Parliament, Lord Monteagle, warning him to stay away from the Houses of Parliament on the night of 5 November. Sensing danger, Monteagle showed the letter to the king, who ordered the area to be searched immediately. Thirty-six barrels of gunpowder were discovered hidden under piles of firewood in a storeroom beneath the House of Lords. Fox, who was found at the scene, was arrested armed with long fuses and wearing his escape clothing.

Guy Fawkes was sentenced to death for his involvement in the Gunpowder Plot.

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The execution of Guy Fawkes. | Heritage Images/Getty Images

After his arrest, Fox was sent to the notorious prison Tower of LondonHe was tortured until he confessed and gave the names of his fellow conspirators. Soldiers were soon sent to Staffordshire to arrest Catesby, the mastermind behind the plot. Catesby and his companions were killed in a shootout while trying to fight off the approaching soldiers.

Meanwhile it was Fox He was sentenced to death. Treason carried the harshest punishment, and he was to be hung, drawn, and quartered. On the day of his execution – January 31, 1606 – Fawkes managed to break free from the soldiers guarding him and jumped (or fell) from the gallows, breaking his neck. The executioners did not let him escape his full punishment: they cut his corpse into quarters, then placed his body parts in the four corners of the kingdom as a warning to others.

The first Guy Fawkes Night was celebrated on November 5, 1606.

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Children with a Guy Fawkes doll, circa 1950. | Evening Standard/Getty Images

The day of the ill-fated Gunpowder Plot was designated a day of celebration – after the attack was prevented, people lit bonfires in celebration of the king’s safety. The announcement was made on November 5th Thanksgiving Day, and the first official celebration took place exactly a year after the failure of the Gunpowder Plot, on November 5, 1606. People across Britain gathered around bonfires and burned effigies of Fox.

Celebrations have evolved over the years. It became customary for children to make a life-sized doll of Fox, and take it around their neighborhood in a wheelbarrow while asking for a “penny for the man” to raise money to buy fireworks. Huge bonfires were built in every village and town, and an effigy of Fox was placed on top of it and set on fire. The traditional brightly colored fireworks displays represent the explosives that were meant to ignite under the Houses of Parliament.

Children singing songs about Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot.

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Guy Fawkes celebrations circa 1933. | Fox Images/Getty Images

Many songs and rhymes have been created to help school children remember the story of the Gunpowder Plot, including… this From the 18th century:

“Remember, remember, November 5th
Gunpowder treason and conspiracy
We see no reason
Why betray gunpowder?
We must never forget…”

People still celebrate Guy Fawkes Night.

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Guy Fawkes Night Fireworks, 2024. | Suba Images/Getty Images

Guy Fawkes Night (also known as Bonfire Night) is still honored on 5 November throughout Britain and parts of the former British Empire. Some people celebrate with their friends in their gardens, while others gather on their village green, parks and other public places. Bonfires are lit and effigies of Fox (or, more often, contemporary political leaders or societal villains) are burned while fireworks explode in the sky. Traditionally, People feast on Baked potatoes and dessert apples.

One of the most famous celebrations It takes place in Lewis In East Sussex, a number of bonfire societies, each with their own traditions, host celebrations across the city. Before the bonfires are lit, statues of political figures are displayed around the city and the streets are crowded with people.

Guy Fawkes’ distinctive look inspired the mask V for revenge.

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People are still wearing masks at protests. | Suba Images/Getty Images

Many photographs and engravings have been produced of the dramatic moment in which Fawkes was captured. His big black floppy hat, leather riding boots, and trimmed mustache and beard became iconic. Centuries after the Gunpowder Plot was foiled, Fawkes’s image remains easily recognizable.

The main character of the comic book V for revenge (and 2005 movie (of the same name) wears a mask of Fox’s face to keep his identity a secret as he fights against a dystopian tyrannical government. As a result, the Guy Fawkes mask became synonymous with rebellion, and was often worn by anti-establishment protestors.

You can see Guy Fawkes’ lantern.

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Guy Fawkes lantern. | Hulton Archive/Getty Images

When Guy Fawkes was arrested, he was supposedly carrying an iron lantern to light his way through the dark cellars. Peter Heywood, who helped carry out the inspection of the Houses of Parliament on the night of the failed Gunpowder Plot, kept the lighthouse as a souvenir. When he died, the lantern went to his brother Robert, who worked at Oxford University. The Iron Lantern was gifted to his workplace by Robert in 1641. It was displayed in the Picture Gallery of the Bodleian Library, and was later transferred to the library. Oxford Ashmolean Museumwhere you can still find it today.

The Houses of Parliament are still being searched for hidden weapons.

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Yeoman Guard conducts their annual search in 2024. | WPA Pool/Getty Images

Although the failed Gunpowder Plot occurred over 400 years ago, it remains a tradition in history. Right guard To inspect the basements of the Houses of Parliament before the opening of the state every year. The original place where Fox hid the gunpowder burned down in the process a fire In the Palace of Westminster in 1834, but officials are still examining the existing vaults, just to be sure. However, inspections are carried out more for tradition and ritual than security.

This story was originally published in 2020; Updated for 2025.

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