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On November 5th in England, people light bonfires and
set off fireworks in what is one of the most popular celebrations of the year.
This is to celebrate the capture and execution of
Guy Fawkes, who, in 1605, planned to blow up the English King as he opened Parliament. Guy
Fawkes and a few other Catholic revolutionaries dug a tunnel into the Houses of
Parliament and brought barrels of gunpowder into the cellars. One
of them, probably Guy Fawkes himself, was to stay and light the gunpowder when
the King arrived, destroying the buildings, killing the King and himself. A
friend of the revolutionaries informed the authorities about the plan and they
were caught and executed. Their execution was gruesome;
they were hanged until they were nearly dead, then their intestines were pulled
out, and, finally, they were cut into pieces. Ironically,
King James the First was very tolerant towards Catholics and if the plan had succeeded,
it would have resulted in the slaughter of thousands of Catholics. Also,
the gunpowder was later found to be damp, so it wouldn't have exploded anyway. However,
in the end Guy Fawkes did succeed in doing something useful. He
gave British children and adults a good reason to have a big firework display
every year! | 
