Even before he was resurrected in the film V for Vendetta, which inspired the now-ubiquitous masks, Guy Fawkes was fairly well known in America. Boston reportedly set off fireworks regularly on Guy Fawkes Day, every November 5th, the day when Fawkes, along with several other conspirators, planned to blow up the British House of Lords, with King James I in attendance for the opening ceremonies. Fawkes and company were attempting to end the persecution of Catholics that began several generations before when King Henry VIII founded the protestant Anglican Church. They planned to follow up the explosion by kidnapping King James’ nine-year-old daughter and installing her as the puppet queen. They almost carried it out, if not for an anonymous tip that led to the 36 barrels of gunpowder, guarded by Fawkes, in the basement of the parliament building.

On this day, January 31st, in 1605, following a trial in Parliament for high treason, Guy Fawkes, along four of his fellow plotters, were executed. Due to their notoriety, the conditions they hoped to reverse for the Catholics for a while got even worse.

The mysterious “V” character who wore the Guy Fawkes Mask in V for Vendetta had little, if anything, in common with the traditional use of those masks during Guy Fawkes Night celebrations. Those resemblances of him were burned in effigy – he was not a popular figure in Britain. In the early years of the celebration, Guy Fawkes Day was often accompanied by religious violence; it was only after England gained control over the Protestant-Catholic split that the day became an enjoyable (and largely meaningless) holiday.