Around 11 p.m. on Nov. 4, 1605, Sir Thomas Knyvet found a man leaving a vault beneath the House of Lords, according to the National Archives. The man called himself John Johnson. The vault held 36 barrels of gunpowder.
Under questioning, he admitted his real name was Guy Fawkes. The powder, he said, was meant to blow up Parliament during the State Opening on Nov. 5, per the National Archives.
The plotters had recruited Fawkes, a British soldier, in the Netherlands, according to Britannica. He hid the barrels under coal and firewood in a rented cellar. Britannica notes that some sources put the number of barrels lower.
A letter had already tipped off the authorities. An unsigned note in disguised handwriting warned Lord Monteagle to stay away from Parliament, adding that “they shall receive a terrible blow this Parliament, and yet they shall not see who hurts them,” per the National Archives.
King James authorized torture in an order to the Tower of London on Nov. 6, according to the UK Parliament website. “If he will not other wayes confesse, the gentler tortours are to be the first usid unto him,” it read.
Fawkes signed a confession on Nov. 8 that did not name all of his accomplices. A more detailed one followed on Nov. 9, and its signature is “barely legible,” which the UK Parliament attributes to the effects of torture. Britannica says he named his accomplices only after being tortured on the rack.
The eight surviving conspirators went on trial on Jan. 27, 1606, in Westminster Hall and were condemned to death for treason, per the UK Parliament. The trial lasted only one day, according to Legal Cheek.
Fawkes was executed on Jan. 31, 1606, in Old Palace Yard, just outside Westminster Hall. Britannica says he fell or jumped from the gallows ladder and broke his neck before his body was quartered.
In January 1606, Parliament set Nov. 5 as a day of public thanksgiving, per Britannica. The day is still marked with bonfires, fireworks, and “guys” carried through the streets.
The day has its own rhyme, and it opens a film. In V for Vendetta, the masked hero recites it in the opening sequence, according to Looper: “Remember, remember the Fifth of November, the Gunpowder Treason and plot.”
The story began as a comic. Writer Alan Moore and artist David Lloyd started it in 1982 as a black-and-white series in the British anthology Warrior, according to International Business Times. Lloyd wanted “to adopt the persona and mission of Guy Fawkes,” per the London Museum.
With Fawkes as the model, Lloyd told International Business Times, “you just go back to 1605 and see what Guy Fawkes wore.”
There was one problem. “I could not find a Guy Fawkes mask anywhere,” Lloyd told International Business Times, so he made his own. The famous grin came from his memory of the mustache. “The smile turned out to be a great accident,” he said.
Moore’s graphic novel, published in 1988 and 1989, later became a film that turned 20 last year. Stephen Fry, who played television host Gordon Deitrich, said the anniversary brings him “a mixture of pride and shame.” Fathom Entertainment scheduled anniversary screenings for Nov. 1 and Nov. 5.
The mask has since left the page. It turned up at anti-Scientology demonstrations, Lloyd said, and International Business Times reported that Anonymous was the first to use it widely. Lloyd told The Quietus he is glad a symbol of fictional resistance now stands for real-world resistance, while noting that creators lose control of their work once it is released.
This story was originally published by Parade on Nov 5, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.