November 5 is celebrated in Britain to commemorate the failure of Guy Fawkes and other terrorist conspirators to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605. Public firework displays are organized with effigies of Fawkes burned on bonfires, and smaller parties take place in back gardens throughout the land. The 5th of November is also called 'Firework Night,' 'Bonfire Night,' or 'Guy Fawkes Day.' In the days leading up to it, children traditionally take their home-made effigies, or ‘Guys,’ out into the streets and ask passers-by for ‘a penny for the Guy,’ using the money to buy fireworks.

The conspiracy to blow up the Houses of Parliament on November 5, 1605, is known as the 'Gunpowder Plot,' and was discovered the night before the explosion was to occur. The origins of the plot remain unclear and the truth will probably never be known. Generations of historians accepted it was an attempt to re-establish the Catholic religion. In more recent times, others have suspected that the plot was the work of a group of agents-provocateurs, anxious to discredit the Jesuits and reinforce the ascendancy of the Protestant religion.

The plot centered around five conspirators, Robert Catesby, Thomas Winter, Thomas Percy, John Wright, and Guy (or Guido) Fawkes, later joined by Robert Keyes, who were determined to blow up of the House of Lords in 1605. The detonation was to take place on State Opening day, when the King, Lords, and Commons would all be present in the Lords Chamber.

There is no doubt that Fawkes, though remembered wrongly as the principal conspirator, was in fact a minor cog in the wheel. Born in 1570 in York, he was brought up as a Protestant. In 1593, he enlisted as a mercenary in the Spanish Army in the Netherlands - he became a Catholic shortly before that date. He was at the capture of Calais in 1595, where he apparently distinguished himself greatly. He may have been chosen for his skills when it was planned to tunnel under the House, and it was an advantage that, having been abroad for some time, he was not known in London.

The plot was discovered, in the official version, through an anonymous letter to Lord Monteagle, a Catholic, warning him not to attend the State Opening. Whether the letter was genuine or a forgery is uncertain. In any event, on November 4 an initial search was made of Parliament. The cellar was thoroughly searched at midnight and Fawkes found with the gunpowder. He was then arrested.

All the conspirators (except Robert Winter) were killed or arrested by November 12 and taken to the Tower of London. They were probably subjected to extensive torture, which formed part of the punishment for treason at the time. Fawkes and the other conspirators who remained alive were tried for high treason and were convicted and sentenced to death. The executions included hanging, drawing and quartering. The heads and other portions of the conspirators' bodies were set up at various points around Westminster and London.

The Houses of Parliament are still searched by the Yeomen of the Guard just before the State Opening to ensure no latter-day Fawkes is concealed in the cellars, though this is retained as a picturesque custom rather than a serious anti-terrorist precaution (for which, of course, there are proper means).