Today in Labor History January 31, 1606: Guy Fawkes jumped to his death moments before his execution for treason. Guy Fawkes belonged to a group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. Fawkes, who had converted to Catholicism, also fought in the 80-Years War for Catholic Spain against the Dutch. He later traveled to Spain seeking support for a Catholic rebellion in England. The English tortured him into confessing the names of his co-conspirators. Brits have celebrated Guy Fawkes Day ever since, usually accompanied by fireworks and burning effigies, traditionally the pope, but recently they’ve burned effigies of Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak and Margaret Thatcher, instead. James Sharpe, professor of history at the University of York, called Fawkes "the last man to enter Parliament with honest intentions." Numerous historical novels and children’s books have been written about Fawkes, including William Harrison Ainsworth's 1841 historical romance “Guy Fawkes; or, The Gunpowder Treason.”
Today in Labor History October 12, 1984: The Provisional Irish Republican Army failed to assassinate Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet at the Brighton Hotel. Thatcher narrowly escaped, and her popularity soared in the aftermath. The bomb did kill five Conservative Party members, including a sitting MP, and wounded 31 others. The Miners’ Strike was currently underway in Britain. Morrissey, from the Smiths, said: "The only sorrow of the Brighton bombing is that Thatcher escaped unscathed." The tabloids were full of similar jokes. The Angelic Upstarts celebrated the bombing with their single "Brighton Bomb." The bomber, Patrick McGee, got 8 life sentences (just to make sure he was thoroughly remorseful). Magee was released in 1999 under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, after serving 14 years. The bombing was depicted in the novels “High Dive” (2015) by Jonathan Lee, and “In the Morning I'll Be Gone” by Adrian McKinty.