On November 5th each year, people in Britain celebrate Guy Fawkes Day with fireworks and other activities. Guy Fawkes was a British subject who was found guilty of treason in 1605 when he was discovered in the basement of the Houses of Parliament with barrels of gunpowder. He was prosecuted for treason, found guilty, and sentenced to death.

When I was thirteen, I lived with my family in a little town just outside of London, England. My Dad was in the U.S. Air Force, and he was stationed in England for three years. For those three years, we could not celebrate America’s Independence Day. After all, our July 4th Independence Day celebrates America’s independence from British rule over the “colony” of America. So, obviously, Americans living in England could not outwardly celebrate.

Pic of Guy Fawkes Day celebration. You can clearly see that this is not in July.

Since we could not celebrate Independence Day on July 4th, we all would pretend to celebrate Guy Fawkes Day on November 5th. We knew in our hearts that we were, actually, celebrating our independence from British rule.

When my family returned to the U.S. after three years, it was such a relief to celebrate on July 4th again.

Now, this is more like it.
Happy July 4th Independence Day!

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