At the time of his death, Jim Jones held such power over his followers that he was able to direct more than 900 of them to participate in a mass murder-suicide.
Jones was the leader of the Peoples Temple, a ministry of his own devising that convinced hundreds of Americans to move to his compound, known as Jonestown, in the South American nation of Guyana. Of the 918 Americans who lost their lives in the Jonestown massacre on Nov. 18, 1978, investigators determined 907 died from ingesting poison, including nearly 300 children. They used cyanide, and either injected it into people with syringes or mixed it with a powdered soft drink called Flavor Aid.
Others were shot or stabbed that day. Jones himself was found with a single bullet wound to the head.
