Guy Fawkes and a group of Catholic conspirators attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605 to kill King James I, who they opposed, by placing 36 barrels of gunpowder under the House of Lords. Guy Fawkes was discovered and arrested before he could light the fuse, and he was subsequently hanged. Since then, people in Britain have commemorated Guy Fawkes Day on November 5th with bonfires, effigies of Guy Fawkes, and fireworks to remember the foiled Gunpowder Plot.