On November 18, 1978, Peoples Temple founder Jim Jones led
hundreds of his followers in a mass murder-suicide at their
agricultural commune in a remote part of the South American
nation of Guyana.

Many of Jones’ followers willingly ingested a poison-laced punch
while others were forced to do so at gunpoint. The final death toll
at Jonestown that day was 909; a third of those who perished were children.

Jim Jones (below) was a charismatic churchman who established
the Peoples Temple, a Christian sect, in Indianapolis in the 1950s.         
        
        
        
        
        
        
       

Fitz Duke, who lives in nearby Port
Kaituma village, stands in front of
a nondescript memorial stone, the
only sign of the grisly Jonestown
massacre.

On November 18, 1978, Peoples Temple cult founder Jim
Jones (above) led hundreds of his followers in a mass
murder-suicide at their agricultural commune in a remote
part of the South American nation of Guyana. Many of
Jones’ followers willingly ingested a poison-laced punch
while others were forced to do so at gunpoint. The final
death toll at Jonestown that day was 909; a third of those
who perished were children.