Fireworks exploding in the distance...

I've stopped jumping ten feet into the air each time I hear a bang as darkness descends on London.

It all began the week preceding Halloween. I would be startled out of my knitting/guitar playing/random web surfing reverie by loud, gunshot like noises. They came from all directions. They followed no particular pattern.

Once I discerned that mass executions weren't taking place in the back alley, I relaxed a little. After I spotted the first flare of colour, I recognized the bangs as fireworks and chalked up all the hubhub to youthful enthusiasm and a British fire fetish. It would all disappear after Samhain, right?

Wrong.

The nightly fireworks shows have been steadily increasing in both frequency and complexity. To an outsider, you might wonder what Londoners are celebrating. I certainly did.

When questioned, I was told it was to do with Guy Fawkes Day. End of explanation.

You see, Brits assume (like Americans) that everyone knows all the minute details of their rich and bloody history. I had never heard of Guy Fawkes, so I had no clue why this particular man was associated with random fireworks and giant bonfires.

My next clue was given in the form of a rhyme: "Remember, remember the 5th of November" is how the chant goes. At least, that's how it is randomly spraypainted on the sidewalks (though there is some dispute over the date, according to the sidewalk graffiti).

Armed with a date and a name my research led me to the story of a man (not even the ringleader) who , in 1605 attempted to blow up the British Parliament with kegs of gunpowder. He was part of a Catholic group conspiring to kill James I as he opened the Parliamentary session in the House of Lords that day. Understandable, since James was in the habit of persecuting Puritans and Catholics at the time.

Unfortunately for Fawkes, his determination to light the fuse (and become an early version of a suicide bomber) went awry when he was arrested, tried, hanged, drawn and quartered.

Now every November Brits come out to light fireworks, burn huge bonfires, and effigies of Fawkes. It's a very interesting thing to watch from the outside. What are people celebrating-the punishment of a treasonous conspirator, or the efforts of an underdog?