What is this peculiar ritual that commemorates annually on this date?

Guy Fawkes ... who was this guy? And who, for "fawke's" sake, were his co~conspirators who took part in the notorious- if doomed - 'Gunpowder Plot' that earned them such lasting historical infamy dating back to exactly 410 years' ago?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...uy-Fawkes.html