On This Day November 5th
OTD
November 5th is the 309th day of the year in the Gregorian
calendar; 56 days remain until the end of the year.
Events
1499 – The Catholicon, written in 1464 by Jehan Lagadeuc in
Tréguier, is published; this is the first Breton dictionary as well as the
first French dictionary.
1605 – Gunpowder Plot: Guy Fawkes is arrested in the cellars
of the Houses of Parliament, where he had planted gunpowder in an attempt to
blow up the building and kill King James I of England.
1757 – Seven Years' War: Frederick the Great defeats the
allied armies of France and the Holy Roman Empire at the Battle of Rossbach.
1811 – Salvadoran priest José Matías Delgado rings the bells
of La Merced church in San Salvador, calling for insurrection and launching the
1811 Independence Movement.
1872 – Women's suffrage in the United States: In defiance of
the law, suffragist Susan B. Anthony votes for the first time and is later
fined $100.
1895 – George B. Selden was granted the first U.S. patent
for an automobile.
1914 – World War I: France and the British Empire declared
war on the Ottoman Empire.
1955 – After being destroyed in World War II, the rebuilt
Vienna State Opera reopens with a performance of Beethoven's Fidelio.
2006 – Saddam Hussein, the former president of Iraq, and his
co-defendants, Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, are
sentenced to death in the al-Dujail trial for their roles in the 1982 massacre
of 148 Shia Muslims.
2013 – India launches the Mars Orbiter Mission, its first
interplanetary probe.
Birthdays
1592 – Charles Chauncy, English-American pastor, theologian,
and academic (d. 1672)
1705 – Louis-Gabriel Guillemain, French violinist and
composer (d. 1770)
1739 – Hugh Montgomerie, 12th Earl of Eglinton, Scottish
composer, and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ayrshire (d. 1819)
1855 – Eugene V. Debs, American union leader and politician
(d. 1926)
1892 – John Alcock, a captain in the Royal Navy and the
Royal Air Force (d. 1919)
1906 – Fred Lawrence Whipple, American astronomer and
academic (d. 2004)
1913 – Vivien Leigh, Indian-British actress (d. 1967)
1923 – Rudolf Augstein, German soldier and journalist,
co-founder of Der Spiegel (d. 2002)
1946 – Gram Parsons, American singer-songwriter and
guitarist (d. 1973)
1952 – Bill Walton, American basketball player and
sportscaster
1971 – Sergei Berezin, Russian ice hockey player
1973 – Johnny Damon, American baseball player
1986 – Kasper Schmeichel, Danish footballer
Guy Fawkes Day
In 1603, James I
became King of England after Queen Elizabeth died. Elizabeth’s reign saw the
systematic persecution of Catholics in the country. Following King James’
ascension to the throne, many Catholics hoped for a reprieve since he was the
son of the late Mary Queen of Scots, a Catholic. That hope was short-lived. Far
from sympathetic, James continued the suppression of Catholicism in England.
Outraged by the
injustice, a man known as Robert Catesby hatched a plan to kill the king and
his establishment. Catesby hoped to create widespread chaos and restore a
Catholic king to the English throne. Along with his cousin, Thomas Wintour,
Catesby recruited other like-minded Catholics to the cause. The first part of
the plan involved sneaking in multiple gunpowder barrels inside the Parliament
building. Their objective was to blow up the building on the opening day of
parliament with the king and his government inside it. First, they needed an
expert to handle the explosives, and they found the best person in a man named
Guy Fawkes.
The conspirators
snuck in 36 barrels of gunpowder underneath the House of Lords. The group had leased a vault directly
underneath the building. On November 4, Fawkes remained to guard the vault —
but the plan fell apart that night. Lord Monteagle — a Catholic loyal to the
Crown, received an anonymous letter warning him to avoid the opening day of
parliament. The letter reached the king, who subsequently ordered a thorough building
search. His troops discovered Fawkes and the gunpowder barrels a little after
midnight. Fawkes was tortured at the Tower of London until he revealed who his
co-conspirators were. By then, most had already been rounded up and arrested.
King James I sentenced Fawkes to death by hanging, but he avoided the noose by
jumping from the gallows. He died of a broken neck soon after.
News about the failed
plot broke out across London. People lit bonfires to celebrate that the king
was still alive. These events led parliament to establish an annual public day
– Gunpowder Treason Day – commemorating the plot’s failure. Guy Fawkes and his
legacy have evolved. The popularity of “V for Vendetta,” — a 1980s graphic
novel, transformed his image from traitor to populist icon. Gunpowder Treason
Day is now Guy Fawkes’ Night/Day worldwide.
American Football Day
Bank Transfer Day
Commercial TV Broadcast Day
Daylight Savings Time Ends
Firewood Day
International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church
National Donut Day
National Love Your Red Hair Day
National Remembrance Day for the Victims Killed By Illegal
Aliens
New York City Marathon
Play Monopoly Day
World Tsunami Awareness Day
Zero Tasking Day
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