Links to Guy Fawkes Day: What Does It Mean by Nate Jones | November 5, 2010 | + Tweet. Masses of people with torch-lit processions fill the narrow streets of Lewes, a small medieval town in southern England, on November 5th, to commemorate Guy Fawkes.
Guy Fawkes Day - Alex Perry / AFP / Getty Images. Today is Guy Fawkes Day! Awesome! Wait... what does that mean? Are we getting presents? Guy Fawkes Day dates back to the failed attempt in 1605 by a group of English Catholics, including Guy Fawkes, to assassinate King James I of England and blow up the Houses of Parliament. Two years ago, our colleague Alex Altman explained the history of the holiday and how it is celebrated.
Today, Guy Fawkes Day — also known as Bonfire Night — is marked in the United Kingdom by celebrations. In the days leading up to the event, children wander through the streets carrying effigies — known as "guys" — and ask passersby for a "penny for the guy." Families gather for meals and parties that might seem incongruous with the bloody event at its origin — although perhaps not so incongruous as celebrating failed arson with fireworks and bonfires. Besides inspiring a festive night of bonfires, Fawkes has in recent years become a symbol for modern activists in the Tea Party movement and also for anonymous internet whistleblowers on 4chan. A fundraising drive for Ron Paul’s 2008 presidential campaign explicitly referenced the famous "Remember, remember the fifth of November" rhyme, as a Ron Paul supporter told The New Yorker, "It gets rather confusing... On a date meant to oppose the man who was anti-parliament, the idea here is to give money to someone who is anti-parliament." (via The Christian Science Monitor)
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