Calling Chris experts

[macfan 57]

Originally Posted by bretonbanquet

Oo, for some reason I thought you guys did it too. Yeah, ChiliD is spot on - in 1605 Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament and since then we've had a tradition of letting off fireworks and having bonfires etc on November 5th, or maybe the nearest weekend.

It's changed a little recently I think. Back in the 60s and 70s I think it was very common for people to have individual private parties with fireworks etc much as Mac seemed to have done in 1970 at Benifold. These days you're more likely to go to a big public display with hundreds of other people. I remember when you could only buy fireworks around late October-early November, but now you can get them at any time, for all the other festivals, especially religious festivals like Diwali, and New Year etc.

It's hard to imagine how Mac could have been having a little firework session like that on any other occasion than Guy Fawkes'. Very British

I never heard of Guy Fawkes until today. It does look like it may have been a bit chilly when they were setting off those fireworks, so it probably was in November. By the way, we do our fireworks here mostly around the 4th of July.

[Gailh]

Originally Posted by chiliD

November 5th is Guy Fawkes Day. He was arrested & hanged for treason when his plot to burn down Parliament was uncovered. (back in the early 1600's) Guy Fawkes Day info



("...remember...the FIFTH of November!" {explosion} )

I remember Billy Connolly saying that the last person to enter the Houses of Parliament with a good idea was Guy Fawkes Probably quite true

Gail