On what date was Guy Fawkes executed for his role in the Gunpowder Plot?

Guy Fawkes was executed on 31 January 1606 for his role in the Gunpowder Plot.

Fawkes was arrested beneath the House of Lords in the early hours of 5 November 1605. After interrogation and torture, he eventually signed confessions using the name Guido Fawkes. He was tried with several other surviving conspirators and convicted of high treason.

The condemned men were sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered, the traditional punishment for treason in England. Fawkes and three others were executed at the Old Palace Yard at Westminster on 31 January 1606. He reportedly avoided the full process by jumping from the scaffold and breaking his neck, although his body was still subjected to the post-execution punishment.

The date is often confused with 5 November, the date of his arrest and the annual Bonfire Night observance. Bonfire Night commemorates the failure of the plot, not Fawkes’s execution day.