Famous Brit of the Week #37 - Guy Fawkes

Today's Famous Brits Assembly was about Guy Fawkes. As today is Bonfire Night, it was apt that the most famous or notorious of the gun powder plotters be the subject of today's event. In 1605, a group of Roman Catholic activists arranged their Gunpowder Plot, but it failed. At the time, King James I reigned over a Protestant England the group wanted the freedom to practise their religion. Guy Fawkes, an explosives expert, along with the rest of the group plotted to assassinate King James and blow up the Palace of Westminster during the state opening of Parliament. Fawkes smuggled 36 barrels under the House of Lords into a cellar. However, he was caught and sent to the Tower of London, tortured to give up the names of his co-conspirators and then executed in January 1606 for high treason. Throughout the years, countries belonging to the British Empire also celebrated his failure to blow up Parliament, but it is still a long-standing tradition to honour this day.