when was the jonestown massacre
Jonestown massacre. Jonestown massacre, (November 18, 1978), mass murder-suicide of members of the California-based Peoples Temple cult at the behest of their leader, Jim Jones, in Jonestown agricultural commune, Guyana. The death toll exceeded 900, including some 300 age 17 and under, making the incident one of the largest mass deaths in American history.
In the end of Jonestown, whether it was forcefully or by choice, a total of 918 people died on November 18th, 1978 in the Jonestown Massacre â one of the largest mass deaths in U.S. history (American Experience, n.d.). The story of Jonestown is a difficult one to explain.