The really odd thing, when you think about it, is that November 5 is a celebration of a failed coup attempt. Every other nation in the world (unless I'm completely wrong) has celebrations for the day when the coup succeeded, or the old colonial order left the place to a native government, or someone who was hated was overthrown.

But we Brits stand about in the damp night, and celebrate a cocked-up plotting against a 'foreign' (well, Scottish in England, but that was foreign then) King that no one really liked at the time.