“Remember, remember, the fifth of November ...”

Today is the fifth of November. Right, you knew that. But do you know why this day is remembered as “Guy Fawkes Day” in England? For that we go to (where else?) Wikipedia, from which the following is taken.

The Gunpowder Plot of 1605 was a failed assassination attempt against King James I of England and VI of Scotland by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Sir Robert Catesby. The plan was to blow up the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament on 5 November, as the prelude to a popular revolt in the Midlands during which James's nine-year-old daughter, Princess Elizabeth, was to be installed as the Catholic head of state. Catesby may have embarked on the scheme after hopes of securing greater religious tolerance under King James had faded ...

The character of Guy Fawkes was the inspiration for the mysterious antihero of the 2006 movie V for Vendetta, a dystopian vision of a totalitarian government in the UK, based upon the 1982-89 comic book series of the same name. The film starred Hugo Weaving as the elusive "V" and Natalie Portman as the woman whom he rescues and later befriends.

Plus, that mask is pretty awesome, especially in the climax where everybody ... nah, you gotta get the DVD.

[The above was published on this day last year. Still works, though. -- DLA]