Guy Fawkes Day: Not what it used to be

Four hundred or so years ago, on Nov. 5, 1605, a plot to blow up the British Parliament failed. It was known as the Gunpowder Plot, and I’ve been burning Guy Fawkes, one of the culprits, in effigy at my home in Arlington for the past few years. The police are gracious enough to stop by on behalf of the neighbors when the fireworks get too robust.

The would-be Catholic saboteurs were undone by an anonymous letter that tipped off British authorities and were executed. Guy Fawkes stands out conspicuously, not because he led the gang, but because he was the explosives expert who was caught standing guard over 36 barrels of gunpowder in a cellar beneath the House of Lords.