On this day 410 years ago, Guy Fawkes and several accomplices attempted to blow up the House of Lords and assassinate King James I of England and VI of Scotland.
The plot is memorialized in a famous traditional rhyme. "Remember, remember, the fifth of November, the Gunpowder Treason and plot. I know of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgot."
Many view Fawkes as an anarchist or anti-government hero, but his goal was to overthrow King James, head of the Church of England, and install a Catholic monarch.
Still, Fawkes' reputation as an anarchist inspires the hero in the "V for Vendetta" stories. First a graphic novel released in the 1980s then a movie starring Hugo Weaving and Natalie Portman released in 2006.