Jonestown Massacre
November 18, 1978
More than 900 followers, including 304 minors, of Rev. Jim Jones commit suicide, in Guyana, at the request of their leader. Jones had ordered them to kill themselves by drinking cyanide-laced grape drink. Just hours before, Jones had ordered the killing of U.S. Representative Leo Ryan of California, three journalists, and a temple defector. Ryan was there to investigate reports of abuse within the cult.