The Gunpowder Plot
On the 5th November 1605, Roman Catholic conspirator Guy Fawkes was arrested in a cellar underneath the Houses of Parliament, where he was attempting to detonate 36 barrels (2500 kg) of gunpowder. It was a failed assassination attempt – upstairs in the Houses of Parliament it was the state opening ceremony, attended by King James I, his family and most of the Protestant aristocracy.

Guy Fawkes, who was sometimes known as Guido, was an explosives expert. Born in Yorkshire in 1570, he was an ex-soldier and had fought for several years for the Catholic cause. For his part in the Gunpowder Plot Fawkes was sentenced to death by being hung, drawn and quartered. Fawkes, however, managed to escape this punishment – at the last minute he jumped down from the scaffold and broke his neck.