Today in History

November 5 , 1605

The Gunpowder Conspiracy

The tug-of-war for the English throne between Catholics and Protestants was growing increasingly tense. A small group of English Catholics devised a plot against King James I of England and the English Parliament. Underneath the Houses of Parliament, the group planted 36 barrels of gunpowder, intending to blow up the House of Lords during the State Opening on November 5, 1605. Conspirator Guy Fawkes tended the explosives. However, a letter of warning to fellow Catholics to avoid Parliament that day exposed the plot and Fawkes was caught. The plot unraveled and the conspirators were tried and executed.

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