Gunpowder Plot participant Guy Fawkes hanged, drawn, and quartered

Gunpowder Plot participant Guy Fawkes was hanged, drawn, and quartered on January 31, 1606 for attempting to blow up the British House of Lords with kegs of gunpowder during the State Opening of Parliament. Fawkes and a group of co-conspirators sought to kill King James I over the persecution of Roman Catholics in England. The plot famously failed after the Lords was searched. It is commemorated to this day on November 5, known as “Guy Fawkes Night.”

Learn more about the Gunpowder Plot and Guy Fawkes.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Hitler and Nazis attempt failed coup in Beer Hall Putsch

Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party attempted an ill-faited coup in Munich, Germany on November 8, 1923. Instead of seizing power, the conspirators suffered 15 casualties and their leaders were arrested, including Hitler. The future dictator would spend a year in prison as a result, where he would write his infamous Mein Kampf. Learn more about the Beer Hall Putsch.

Oregon legalized physician-assisted suicide

On November 8, 1994, Oregon passed the Death With Dignity Act by voter initiative, becoming the first US state to legalize physician-assisted suicide. Read the Death With Dignity Act,

France government opens the Louvre as a public museum

On November 8, 1793, the revolutionary government in France opened the Louvre for the first time as a public museum. Learn more about the history of the Louvre.