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November 5th, a date known here in the UK as the Gunpowder Plot, or more colloquially as: Bonfire night, can be bewildering to those not familiar with our history. As ever, it's all about religion. England had been a catholic country up until 1534, that is when the reformation began.
The Gunpowder Plot was a failed attempt to assassinate King James I of England during the Opening of Parliament in November 1605. The plan was organised by Robert Catesby, a devout English Catholic who hoped to kill the Protestant King James and return England to Catholic rule. As part of the plan, Catesby intended to kidnap James’s nine-year-old daughter Princess Elizabeth and install her as a puppet queen.
An Act of Parliament passed in the months following the plot ensured that the failure of the Gunpowder Plot would be marked every year. Churches attendance on 5 November was made compulsory under the terms of the act, and congregations had to give thanks for the failure of the conspirators.
Read here, why we light bonfires and ignite fireworks on November the fifth.