Robert Catesby (1572?–1605) was the leader of the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605, commemorated in Great Britain every 5 November as Guy Fawkes Night. His family were prominent recusant Catholics. He took part in the Essex Rebellion of 1601 but was captured and assessed a large fine, after which he sold his estate at Chastleton. The Protestant James I became King of England in 1603; after he exiled priests and reimposed fines on recusants, Catesby planned to kill him by blowing up the House of Lords with gunpowder as a prelude to a revolt. Early in 1604 Catesby began to recruit English Catholics to his cause, including Thomas Wintour, John Wright, Thomas Percy, and Guy Fawkes. A letter sent anonymously to William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle, alerted the authorities, and on the eve of the planned explosion, during a search of Parliament, Fawkes was found guarding the barrels of gunpowder, and arrested. Catesby and the remaining plotters made a stand against a 200-strong company of armed men at Holbeche House in Staffordshire, where he was shot and killed. As a warning to others, his body was exhumed and his head exhibited outside Parliament.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Catesby
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1138:
Lý Anh Tông was enthroned as emperor of Đại Việt at the age of two, starting a 37-year reign. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%BD_Anh_T%C3%B4ng
1898:
Filipinos on Negros Island revolted against Spanish rule and established the short-lived Republic of Negros. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negros_Revolution
1916:
An armed confrontation in Everett, Washington, US, between local authorities and members of the Industrial Workers of the World resulted in seven deaths. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everett_massacre
1983:
Five workers on the Byford Dolphin semi-submersible oil rig were killed in an explosive decompression while drilling in the Frigg gas field in the North Sea. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byford_Dolphin
2009:
Major Nidal Malik Hasan of the United States Army went on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood, the worst shooting ever to take place on an American military base. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Fort_Hood_shooting
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
squeezebox: (music, informal) Synonym of accordion. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/squeezebox
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
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