Guy Fawkes is best known for his role in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, a Catholic conspiracy in England to blow up Parliament and assassinate King James I. He was placed in charge of guarding the explosives hidden beneath the House of Lords, was discovered guarding the gunpowder after an anonymous letter alerted authorities, and was subsequently tortured and executed. In popular culture, his name became symbolic of the plot and of Bonfire Night (Guy Fawkes Night), when effigies of Fawkes are burned on bonfires and fireworks are set off to commemorate the failed attempt.
