10 times Guy Fawkes night confused the hell out of the rest of the world

It’s that time of the year where British people gather in crowds to light up the sky with hundreds of fireworks and cheerfully burn effigies of a single man all night long.

And if you don’t know what we’re talking about, you must not be British.

Allow us to explain: November 5th is Guy Fawkes Night (also known as Bonfire Night). The UK Holiday dates back to 1605 when a group of Roman Catholic activists arranged "the Gunpowder Plot", an attempt to assassinate the Protestant King James I.

Guy Fawkes plotted to assassinate the king and blow up the Palace of Westminster by smuggling 36 barrels under the House of Lords into a cellar. However, he was caught thanks to an anonymous letter and sent to the Tower of London where he was tortured and subsequently executed in January 1606 for high treason.

In short: Guy Fawkes’ failure to blow up Parliament is celebrated every year by the Brits and has become a national holiday. It’s a holiday that’s uniquely celebrated by the Brits and the Brits alone, which makes explaining the night’s event to people around the world quite difficult.

In honor of the upcoming holiday, we gathered 10 of our favorite posts about Guy Fawkes night that proves just how confusing the date is to the rest of the world.

On how it compares to other countries’ important events

On V for Vendetta’s impact

On wearing Guy Fawkes masks

Americans thinking the fireworks were in honor of Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential win

Being viewed as the British version of Thanksgiving

On celebrating failure

On kids burning a dummy

On holding grudges

In comparison to July 4th in America

The difference in how the U.S. Capitol Riots are viewed