Guy Fawkes' Day

                                Guy Fawkes' Day

   November 5th is Guy Fawkes' Day in Britain. 

All over the country people build wood fires, or "bonfires", in their gardens. On the top of each bonfire is a guy. That's a figure of Guy Fawkes. People make guys with straw, old clothes and newspapers. 

But before November 5th, children use their guys to make money. They stand in the street and shout "Penny for the guy". Then they spend the money on fireworks. But how did this tradition start? Who was Guy Fawkes and why do the British remember him on November 5th?

   On November 5th 1605, Guy Fawkes tried to kill King James I. He and a group of friends put a bomb under the Houses of Parliament in London. But the King's men found the bomb - and they found Guy Fawkes, too. They took him to the Tower of London and there the King's men cut off his head.