Forty years ago, over 900 people died in a mass murder-suicide by drinking cyanide-laced punch at the order of cult leader Jim Jones. Most of them were Americans who were a member of a California-based cult called the Peoples “Temple of the Disciples of Christ.” Jim Jones made this temple, and He opened his first church in the mid-1950s in Indianapolis. Jim Jones choose the Guyanese jungle to get out of the reach of U.S authorities and media. He was appointed chairman of the San Francisco Housing Authority by the mayor and was even honored at a testimonial dinner attended by the governor. Throughout the 1970s, he recruited hundreds of members to move to what was dubbed Jonestown and begin building the colony. Pressure began to build back home; however, as relatives of Peoples Temple members claimed, the members were being prevented from leaving Jonestown. In November of 1978, Congressman Leo Ryan of San Francisco led a delegation that included media and family members of victims to Jonestown. They were initially denied entry and later killed by people’s Temple gunmen. Back at the colony, Jones, knowing his days were numbered, ordered a pre-planned mass suicide. This was carried out by forced-feeding of cyanide-laced grape drinks to members, which included many children. Many people, including Jones, died of gunshot wounds. When U.S. authorities arrived, they found almost 1,000 bodies (including some 300 age 17 and under), bloated by the jungle heat. Most of the remains were buried in a mass grave near San Francisco, and the jungle reclaimed the site.
#1 Dead bodies litter the ground after a mass suicide of the People’s Temple cult followers led.
#2 An aerial shot of the mass suicide of the religious cult, The Peoples Temple led by Jim Jones, 1978, Jonestown, Guyana.
#3 Dead bodies lie near the compound of the People’s Temple cult on Nov. 18, 1978 in Jonestown, Guyana
#4 The mass suicide of the religious cult, The Peoples Temple, led by Jim Jones, Nov. 18, 1978, Jonestown, Guyana.
#5 Jonestown, Guyana, mass suicide cult led by Jim Jones on Nov. 18, 1978.
#6 The Reverend Jim Jones’ bloated body lies on the ground after it was hastily sewn together after his autopsy by officials November 18, 1978 in Jonestown, Guyana.
#7 Bodies lie about a building at the People’s Temple Commune in Jonestown, Guyana, Nov. 18, 1978 after more than 400 people committed suicide in one of the decade’s worst tragedies.
#8 The bodies of the Jonestoen, Guyana mass-suicide victims lie face down atop one another, Nov. 18, 1978.
#9 Bodies from a mass suicide victims lie around the pavilion of People’s Temple in Jonestown, Guyana as an onlooker in gas mask stands by, Nov. 18, 1978.
Body at left on the steps of the building is believed to be that of cult leader Jim Jones and that of the woman lying face up in dark slacks in foreground believed to be Jone’s wife.
#10 Villagers look on as Capt. Gerry Gouveia, a commercial pilot, directs grass-clearing at the remote airstrip where gunmen ambushed and killed U.S. Rep.
Leo Ryan and four others on Nov. 18, 1978. Later, the Rev Jim Jones and 912 other people died in a bizarre suicide-massacre at the Jonestown commune a few miles away.
#11 Communist literature litters the floor of the library at Jonestown, Guyana, Nov. 27, 1978.
Government officials went to Jonestown to take inventory and close up the settlement. Survivors of the cult, The People’s Temple, visited the Soviet Embassy in Georgetown Monday.
#12 Syringes surround one of the vats used to mix up the position drink used in a mass suicide for 918 people at the religious cult town of Jonestown, Nov. 18, 1978, Guyana.
#13 Some of the letters that were found outside the home of Jim James Jones, where a mass suicide claimed 912 lives, Nov. 26, 1978, Jonestown, Guyana.
#14 Bottle of poison and a syringe which belonged to members of the Peoples Temple cult, who participated in a mass suicide at Jonestown, Guyana on Nov. 18, 1978.
#15 Bottles of poison which belonged to members of the Peoples Temple cult, who participated in a mass suicide, Nov. 18, 1978, in Jonestown, Guyana.
#16 Congressman Leo Ryan sits on a runway Nov. 18, 1978 in Port Kaituma, Guyana after he was shot and killed by members of Jim Jones’ People’s Temple cult
#17 Leo J. Ryan (D- Calif.), and three newsmen were killed in an ambush in northern Guyana on Nov. 17, 1978
after visiting the jungle headquarters of a controversial American religious sect. From left to right are: Ryan, 53; Don Harris, 41, an investigative Reporter for KNBC-TV in Los Angeles; Robert Brown, 36, a cameraman with NBC news; Greg Robinson, 27, a photographer with the San Francisco Examiner. One other person was reported killed and seven or eight were wounded in the attack, according to the Guyana government.
#18 Stack of U.S. passports that belonged to members of the Peoples Temple cult, who participated in a mass suicide, Jonestown, Guyana on Nov. 18, 1978.
#19 People’s Temple follower Larry Layton, center stands with police following his arrest Nov. 18, 1978 in the shooting of two people on a remote Guyana airstrip.
That same day, precipitated by the shootings, over 900 members of the People’s Temple Cult led by Reverend Jim Jones died in Jonestown, Guyana of mass murder and suicide. Larry Layton was convicted in 1986 by a federal jury in San Francisco of conspiring in the 1978 murder of California congressman Leo Ryan and aiding and abetting in the attempted murder of Richard Dwyer, a U.S. diplomat wounded in the attack. Layton’s sister Debbie’s departure from the Peoples Temple and denunciation of Jones in May 1978 led her brother to leave California to join the settlement in Guyana.
#20 Peoples Temple compound, mass suicide cult led by Jim Jones, after bodies were removed at Jonestown, Guyana in 1978.
#21 The scene at People’s Temple, Jonestown, Guyana after mass suicide by cult led by Jim Jones on Nov. 18, 1978.
#22 The scene at People’s Temple, Jonestown, Guyana, after mass suicide by cult led by Jim Jones on Nov. 18, 1978.
#23 Members of a US military team prepare aluminum coffins for shipment to the United States
The site was host to a mass suicide led by the Reverend Jim Jones of more than 900 of his Peoples Temple followers.
#24 Members of a US military team prepare aluminum coffins for shipment to the United States
#25 U.S. troops seal up shipping containers that hold the bodies of mass suicide victims from Jonestown
#26 Dead bodies lie in the compound of the People’s Temple cult
I feel like this could easily happen again. I’m not religious but I’ve been to some functions that are insanely cult like with insane claims (like covid being the drastic event to bring the second coming of christ, where jesus would come and establish a new world order, a government to rule the entire world peacefully and punish all those who had sinned and not sought forgiveness etc.). While significantly less lethal, the idea that all those around me bought into the idea without thought because came from a preacher amazed me. I even asked my friend how he felt about it since he was apart of the congregation and he just accepted it at face value. People can be so trusting in the worst of times.