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, 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.