[ May, 2013 ] In the UK, they have bonfires and fireworks on the 5th of November every year.
I was surprised to learn that this event started in 1605.
On this day in 1605, Guy Fawkes and his company who were Catholics planned to assassin the King of England by blowing up the parliament.
But there was an informer and Fawkes who was watching the gunpowder was arrested.
After the torture, he confessed about his company and in the end got the capital punishment.
English government told the people to have bonfires to celebrate the king’s escape from assassination.
Fireworks started in 1650s.
In the bonfires, usually people burn the dolls of Guy Fawkes, but sometimes, they burn the dolls of someone disliked in that year, for example, former prime minister, Margaret Thatcher was the target in one period.
Guy Fawkes was born in York.
His birthplace is now an inn and they uses Guy Fawkes’s face for their sign.
This face is used widely as a symbol of resistence against the Establishment all over the world.
