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Francis Tresham (c. 1567 – 1605) was one of the English provincial Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605, a conspiracy to assassinate King James I. Having previously been imprisoned for his role in a failed rebellion and involved in missions to Spain that sought support for persecuted English Catholics, Tresham joined the Gunpowder Plot in October 1605. Its leader, Robert Catesby, asked him to provide a large sum of money and the use of Rushton Hall, but Tresham apparently provided neither, instead giving a small amount of money to fellow plotter Thomas Wintour. Tresham also expressed his concern that two of his brothers-in-law would be killed if the plot succeeded. An anonymous letter delivered to one of them was handed to Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, and was decisive in foiling the conspiracy. Historians suspect that Tresham wrote it, although this is unproven. Catesby and Wintour thought that Tresham was the author and threatened to kill him, but he convinced them otherwise. Tresham was arrested on 12 November and confined in the Tower of London, where he died of natural causes the following month; his confession did not mention the letter. (Full article...)

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In the news

German media report that several hundred pieces of Nazi-plundered art, including lost works by Picasso and Matisse, were discovered in Munich in 2011.
In baseball, the Boston Red Sox defeat the St. Louis Cardinals to win the World Series, and the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles defeat the Yomiuri Giants to win the Japan Series (MVP Manabu Mima pictured).
Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud is confirmed killed in a drone strike.
The Marmaray rail tunnel under the Bosphorus opens, connecting the European and Asian parts of Turkey.
The Front for Victory loses seats but retains its majority in the Argentine legislative election.

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On this day...

November 5: Guy Fawkes Night in Great Britain and some Commonwealth countries (1605)

1838 – The collapse of the Federal Republic of Central America began with Nicaragua seceding from the union.
1916 – An armed confrontation in Everett, Washington, US, between local authorities and members of the Industrial Workers of the World resulted in seven deaths.
1950 – Korean War: The 27th British Commonwealth Brigade succeeded in preventing a Chinese break-through at Pakchon in the Battle of Pakchon.
1983 – Five workers on the Byford Dolphin semi-submersible oil rig (pictured) were killed in an explosive decompression while drilling in the Frigg gas field in the North Sea.
2003 – American serial killer Gary Ridgway pleaded guilty to 48 counts of first degree murder.

More anniversaries: November 4 – November 5 – November 6

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American singer Frank Sinatra (1915–98) in 1947, at the Liederkrantz Hall in New York. Sinatra began his career in 1935, reaching unprecedented success after being signed by Columbia Records in 1943. After a lull in the late 1940s, his career regained new vigor in the 1950s.

Photo: William P. Gottlieb

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