Guy Fawkes Night 2013 is Nov. 5: Will you celebrate?
Published: November 5, 2013
By ADAM CARLSON — acarlson@ledger-enquirer.com
Guy Fawkes Night — dedicated to remembering the failed plot of a group of men who lived and died four centuries ago — is probably most famous to all of us as something everyone keeps mentioning in "V for Vendetta," the 2005 film starring Natalie Portman.
The night is celebrated on Nov. 5 of each year. The holiday has several other names, including Gunpowder Treason Day and Bonfire Night.
According to Wikipedia, the celebration was enshrined in the United Kingdom by the Observance of 5th November Act, passed after the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 failed. That plan, put on by Catholic insurgents against the Protestant royals, involved explosives, Parliament's House of Lords and the life of King James I. Fawkes was arrested while guarding the explosives.
When citizens heard their king's life had been saved, they reportedly took to the streets, lighting bonfires across London.
Read more here: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2013/11/05/2779243/guy-fawkes-night-2013-is-nov-5.html#storylink=cpy
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Guy Fawkes Night
Guy Fawkes Night, also known as Guy Fawkes Day, Bonfire Night and Firework Night, is an annual commemoration observed on 5 November, primarily in Great Britain. Its history begins with the events of 5 November 1605, when Guy Fawkes, a member of the Gunpowder Plot, was arrested while guarding explosives the plotters had placed beneath the House of Lords. Celebrating the fact that King James I had survived the attempt on his life, people lit bonfires around London, and months later the introduction of the Observance of 5th November Act enforced an annual public day of thanksgiving for the plot's failure.
Within a few decades Gunpowder Treason Day, as it was known, became the predominant English state commemoration, but as it carried strong religious overtones it also became a focus for anti-Catholic sentiment. Puritans delivered sermons regarding the perceived dangers of popery, while during increasingly raucous celebrations common folk burnt effigies of popular hate-figures, such as the pope. Towards the end of the 18th century reports appear of children begging for money with effigies of Guy Fawkes and 5 November gradually became known as Guy Fawkes Day. Towns such as Lewes and Guildford were in the 19th century scenes of increasingly violent class-based confrontations, fostering traditions those towns celebrate still, albeit peaceably. In the 1850s changing attitudes eventually resulted in the toning down of much of the day's anti-Catholic rhetoric, and the Observance of 5th November Act was repealed in 1859. Eventually, the violence was dealt with, and by the 20th century Guy Fawkes Day had become an enjoyable social commemoration, although lacking much of its original focus. The present-day Guy Fawkes Night is usually celebrated at large organised events, centred on a bonfire and extravagant firework displays.
Settlers exported Guy Fawkes Night to overseas colonies, including some in North America, where it was known as Pope Day. Those festivities died out with the onset of the American Revolution. Claims that Guy Fawkes Night was a Protestant replacement for older customs like Samhain are disputed, although another old celebration, Halloween, has lately increased in popularity, and according to some writers, may threaten the continued observance of 5 November.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes_Night
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