Guy Fawkes Day has a long history in Great Britain, but is probably less familiar to American readers. To summarize: In 1605, a group of English Catholics plotted to overthrow the British government by blowing up the House of Lords with the king and Parliament in session. Guy Fawkes, a zealous Catholic who had previously fought for the Spanish Army, was given the unlucky job of guarding the gunpowder in the basement. When the government received an anonymous tip, a justice of the peace found Fawkes hiding with the explosives 409 years ago on November 5, 1605. Fawkes was arrested and eventually sentenced to death. The plot was foiled, the government had been saved, and the country began observing an official day of thanksgiving on the anniversary of the plot’s discovery.

So for a (largely) American audience, why celebrate this at all? First of all, a few aspects of this holiday are definitely not worth celebrating. For many years, November 5 (alternately called Gunpowder Treason Day, Bonfire Night, and Guy Fawkes Day/Night) carried a strong anti-Catholic odor in many circles. A common tradition was burning the pope in effigy. This practice followed English emigrants into other places, including the American colonies. George Washington was so annoyed by it that he issued an order reminding his soldiers of the need to win the friendship and loyalty of Catholic French-Canadians, bemoaning the existence of "Officers and Soldiers in this army so void of common sense" that they would participate in "that ridiculous and childish custom of burning the Effigy of the pope."

Since then, the holiday's religious overtones have faded, as England itself has become a less Protestant and more diverse place. Today, some Guy Fawkes revelers are just as likely to burn obnoxious celebrities as the pope or Guy himself (who has become a sympathetic symbol for many anti-government types). Fireworks and bonfires are an annual tradition on November 5, and there are few things Americans love more than an excuse to blow things up or set them on fire. Some have theorized that some of the holiday’s traditions, like children dressing up in masks and begging for pennies, evolved as a proxy for Halloween, which never caught on in Britain despite its Celtic heritage (but has become more popular lately). And finally, spare a second to remember that the whole thing was started by a foiled terrorist plot, saving many lives. Religion and politics aside, that’s worth a cheery nod. Guy Fawkes Day is a complicated holiday (one writer said it means “all things to all men”), but that complication contains enough bright points to make it an anniversary worth celebrating, one way or another.

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/70933000/jpg/_70933067_70933066.jpg