::: digital-ed[dot]net :::

The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, or the Powder Treason, as it was known at the time,[1] was a failed attempt by a group of provincial English Catholics to kill King James I of England and VI of Scotland, his family, and most of the Protestant aristocracy in a single attack by blowing up the Houses of Parliament during the State Opening on 5 November 1605. The conspirators had also planned to abduct the royal children, not present in Parliament, and incite a revolt in the Midlands.

The Gunpowder Plot was one of many unsuccessful assassination attempts against James I, and followed the Main Plot and Bye Plot of 1603. Some popular historians have put forward a debate about government involvement in the plot.[2]

On 5 November each year, people in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries and regions[3] celebrate the failure (or among some groups, the attempt) of the plot on what is known as Guy Fawkes Night, Bonfire Night, Fireworks Night, Cracker Night or Plot Night; although the political meaning of the festival has grown to be very much secondary today.