Thomas Percy (c. 1560–1605) was a member of the group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. Little is known of his life before 1596 when a distant relation, Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland, appointed him constable of Alnwick Castle. Percy acted as the earl's intermediary in a series of confidential communications with King James VI of Scotland. After James acceded to the English throne in 1603, Percy became disenchanted with him, supposing that the new king had reneged on promises of toleration for English Catholics. He met Robert Catesby in 1603, and the following year joined his conspiracy to kill James and his ministers by blowing up the House of Lords with gunpowder. Percy provided the group with funding and secured the leases to certain properties in London, including the undercroft directly beneath the House of Lords, into which the gunpowder was placed. When the plot was exposed on 5 November 1605, Percy fled to the Midlands. He and Catesby were killed on 8 November, during a siege of Holbeche House in Staffordshire, by the Sheriff of Worcester and his men.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Percy_(Gunpowder_Plot)

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1138:

Ly Anh Tong was enthroned as emperor of Đại Việt at the age of two, starting a 37-year reign. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ly_Anh_Tong

1925:

Sidney Reilly, the first "super-spy" of the 20th century and one of the inspirations for James Bond, was executed by the Soviet secret police. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Reilly

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

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 Norwegian sector of the North Sea. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byford_Dolphin

1995:

André Dallaire was thwarted in his attempt to assassinate Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien when Chrétien's wife locked the door. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Dallaire

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

photobomb: To unexpectedly appear in a photograph, especially so as to ruin the picture. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/photobomb

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

The only real revolution is in the enlightenment of the mind and the improvement of character, the only real emancipation is individual, and the only real revolutionaries are philosophers and saints. --Will Durant https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Will_Durant