Guy Fawkes

Guy Fawkes is remembered on November 5th for something that he failed to do. Guy was a Roman Catholic in England in the late 1500s, which which was not very desireable back then. Catholics were not given the freedom to practice religion and other bad stuff. So Guy and some of his Catholic buddies decided to blow up Westminster during the opening ceremonies of Parliment in 1605. Determined to go out with a bang, Guy packed a room below the Parliment chambers with barrels of gun powder. Unfortunately, none of this came to fruition. Guy and his conspirators were captured and tortured at the Tower of London (see above entry) and then they were executed. The 5th of November is celebrated, ironically, with bonfires and fireworks and British people running around like fools. Blake, Erin, Sean, and I went to see one batch of fireworks at Alexandra Palace and it was quite a spectacle. And it was REALLY cold. There are pretty much firewoks being set off in every direction, though, including outside our dorm. And apparently, British parents think that it is ok to let children play with fireworks as well. Good thing National Health will take care of them when they lose an eye.

For more interesting reading on Guy and the Gunpowder Plot go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes.