An anonymous letter to one nobleman unraveled the Gunpowder Plot

On 5 November 1605, Guy Fawkes was caught guarding 36 barrels of gunpowder hidden beneath the House of Lords, enough to kill King James I and blow up Parliament. The plot, led by Robert Catesby, unraveled after an anonymous letter warned Lord Monteagle to stay away from the State Opening. Fawkes was tortured, confessed, and was executed in 1606.

— Antonia Fraser, The Gunpowder Plot: Terror and Faith in 1605 — 1996
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