Guy Fawkes Night is an annual commemoration of the events of 5 November
1605, when Guy Fawkes, a member of the Gunpowder Plot, was arrested
while guarding explosives the plotters had placed beneath the House of
Lords. To celebrate the arrest, which put an end to the plot on King
James I's life, people lit bonfires around London, and months later the
introduction of the Observance of 5th November Act enforced an annual
public day of thanksgiving. Within a few decades Gunpowder Treason Day,
as it was known, became the predominant English state commemoration. As
it carried strong Protestant religious overtones, it also became a focus
for anti-Catholic sentiment; increasingly raucous celebrations featured
the burning of effigies of popular hate-figures, such as the pope.
Towards the end of the 18th century, children were seen begging for
money with effigies of Guy Fawkes. In the 1850s much of the day's anti-
Catholic rhetoric was toned down, and by the 20th century Guy Fawkes Day
had become an enjoyable social commemoration. Today it is usually
celebrated with bonfires and extravagant firework displays.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes_Night>
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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>
1828:
Greek War of Independence: The French Morea expedition to
recapture Morea (now the Peloponnese) ended when the last Ottoman forces
departed the peninsula.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morea_expedition>
1943:
World War II: An unknown aircraft dropped four bombs on Vatican
City, which maintained neutrality during the war.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_the_Vatican>
1967:
A train derailed near Hither Green maintenance depot in London,
killing 49 people and injuring 78 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hither_Green_rail_crash>
2007:
Led by Google, 34 companies established the Open Handset
Alliance to develop open standards for mobile devices, leading to the
development of the Android operating system (logo pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system)>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
loss leader:
(marketing) An item that is sold at or below cost in an effort to
stimulate other profitable sales.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/loss_leader>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
If the average man had had his way there would probably never have
been any state. Even today he resents it, classes death with taxes, and
yearns for that government which governs least. If he asks for many laws
it is only because he is sure that his neighbor needs them; privately he
is an unphilosophical anarchist, and thinks laws in his own case
superfluous. In the simplest societies there is hardly any government.
--Will Durant
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Will_Durant>