Some holidays make people scratch their heads at the rituals and customs. None more stranger than Guy Fawkes Day, which doesn't seem to migrate beyond it's English origins.
Guy Fawkes is oddly celebrated. He is, after all, a failure. Rarely does history recall losers and failures, especially one on such a massive level. But old Guy goes down in history for his failed attempt to blow up the king of England and Parliament. Catholic dissident Fawkes and twelve of his co-conspirators (hey, Guy, maybe the number 13 should have clued you up?) decided James I should die when he opened Parliament on November 5th, 1605. Their plot was months in the planning, but all came to naught when Guy was discovered lurking below in the cellars of the House of Lords. Tellingly, there were 35 barrels of gunpowder with him. I can just hear it now, "Hello, hello, hello...what have we here?" LOL.
Parliament declared the day a public holiday of Thanksgiving (nothing connected to US Thanksgiving), and soon the day became known as Bonfire Night, because of the bonfires lit in celebration of the plot failing. Rather odd, since nothing blew up, no fires took place, yet this is how it's celebrated. Go figure...lol.
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