I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.
It’s been a few years since I elevated November 5th to one of the most important days of the year. I’m sure the movie V for Vendetta played its part, but the film only pointed to a piece of history that might have stayed hidden from me, being neither British nor raised in their cultural memory. And as the famous poem says — I do remember.
Guy Fawkes: A Man Who Became a Myth
In 1604 Guy Fawkes became involved with a small group of English Catholics. They planned to kill the Protestant King James I of England (James VI and I) and blow up the Houses of Parliament with gunpowder. The attack was scheduled for November 5th, 1605, the day of Parliament’s reopening. The conspirators made one fatal mistake — they tried to warn fellow Catholics who would be present at the ceremony. An anonymous letter to Lord Monteagle reached the king’s advisors, and a royal search was ordered. Late on November 4th, into the early hours of November 5th, guards found dozens of barrels of gunpowder and Fawkes in the cellars. What followed was interrogation, torture, and, ultimately, execution by hanging, drawing, and quartering. Fawkes was fortunate; unlike the others, he broke his neck and died instantly. His body was then quartered and displayed as a warning.
A friend’s reflection on the Guy Fawkes myth — the man who failed to burn a system yet set an idea aflame. Video courtesy of Havran.
An Act of Parliament designated each November 5th as a day of thanksgiving, celebrating the king’s escape from assassination. This Observance of 5th November Act 1606 remained in force until 1859 — over two and a half centuries. Seen through a modern lens, ordinary people rarely cared for politics. A century later, most had likely forgotten the details of the Gunpowder Plot. For the majority, it was simply Guy Fawkes Day — bonfires, effigies, and celebration. Perhaps some still knew the story; perhaps the myth alone endured. If you live in Britain and can shed light on how it’s remembered, share your insight in the comments.
Guy Fawkes was a man who became a myth. There were thirteen plotters, yet it is his name and effigy that came to symbolize the event. Hundreds of years later, his name lives on — even in the everyday word guy(s), derived from him.
In 2005, V for Vendetta reimagined his spirit. Britain in a dystopian future became almost a documentary of present-day authoritarianism. The masked vigilante V knew that myth, not muscle, moves nations. The mask became the message; the man beneath was secondary. V accomplished symbolically what Fawkes could not — sparking rebellion through imagery instead of explosives. It doesn’t always matter whether something happens in the streets or on the screen — stories shape collective consciousness.
Pink Floyd’s rebellion against industrial schooling mirrors the spirit of V for Vendetta — liberation through awareness, not fire. Clip © Pink Floyd Music Ltd – Fair Use.
Guy Fawkes embodies the archetype of rebellion and ignition — a man who tried to light a revolution by fire, only to become its eternal symbol.
Remember, remember, the 5th of November,
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason
Why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.
We could end here, yet in recent weeks I’ve stumbled upon three more synchronicities tied to November 5th — as if this date attracts rebels and visionaries across time.
Doc Emmett Brown: A Rebel Who Travelled Through Time in Style
The Back to the Future trilogy celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. I hadn’t planned to rewatch it, but at the end of October, I did — unknowingly within the same timeframe the story takes place.
Doc Brown’s spark of genius — November 5th 1955 — the day rebellion met time itself. Trailer © Universal Pictures – Fair Use.
For his first time‑travel experiment, Doc Brown set the DeLorean to November 5th, 1955 — the day he conceived the idea of the flux capacitor.
I couldn’t believe it when I noticed. I’d never caught the date before because I wasn’t tuned to the signal. I found no Reddit threads connecting Guy Fawkes and Doc Brown, so it’s likely coincidence. Still, how fitting that on the “Day of Rebels,” another rebel bends the laws of time itself.
H.G. Wells’ Time After Time
While reading trivia about Back to the Future, I discovered another November 5th connection. In Time After Time, Malcolm McDowell’s H.G. Wells also travels through time on November 5th. A different story, yet the same ignition point. I haven’t watched the film yet, but it’s now firmly on my radar.
Another November 5th — H.G. Wells journeys through time, proving that myth repeats in every era. Clip © Warner Bros – Fair Use.
Edwin Howard Armstrong Demonstrates FM Radio Broadcasting
This is perhaps the most tragic story I’ll share today. Edwin Armstrong was an inventor who revolutionized radio broadcasting.
Guglielmo Marconi is often called the father of radio. His technology was groundbreaking, yet imperfect. It allowed opera to travel hundreds of kilometers through the air, but signals were noisy and fragile. Armstrong’s genius was to reimagine the system entirely. On November 5th, 1935, in New York City, he publicly demonstrated FM radio. The existing AM system was plagued by static, distortion, and costly transmission. FM was cheaper, clearer, and almost silent — a revelation.
Armstrong’s discovery, however, threatened powerful corporations. RCA and other industry giants had invested heavily in AM technology. When regulators later shifted the FM band, millions of receivers became obsolete, crippling his early market. Legal battles followed, draining his fortune and health. On February 1st, 1954, exhausted and destitute, Armstrong leapt from his Manhattan apartment window. He was 63.
He died believing he had failed. Yet every FM broadcast today is his living monument — proof that clarity, not noise, endures. He built systems to serve understanding, not profit. The corporations destroyed the man but not the vibration of his idea.
It warms me to know his technology eventually prevailed. Too often, revolutionary ideas remain buried in drawers. We may not change the world, but we can choose to create for people, not for accounts.
November 5th in My Realm
Guy Fawkes alone makes this day sacred to me. The synchronicities I’ve uncovered only amplify its charge. I care little for official holidays decreed by others; I care for mythic days — moments that embody rebellion and courage. When my Realm rises from obscurity, I’ll celebrate November 5th as the Festival of Sparks — a day of sovereign creativity, invention, and ignition.
One day, you may walk through open doors — to watch V for Vendetta or Back to the Future, to feel the myth in motion. A celebration of knowledge and fire: the timeless voltage of awakening itself.
Mischief Managed
