On this day, November the 18th, in the year of 1978, the Jonestown Massacre, a mass-suicide which saw the death of 900 plus cult members, occured.

The Peoples Temple, the name of the Jim Jones led cult, was San Francisco based and had membership numbers in the thousands. But over time, the cult’s actions became more and more questioned by the public and media, which prompted Jones to move the cult to Guyana, a relatively remote South American nation.

With worry for those in Guyana, Leo Ryan, a California Congressman, went to Jonestown to investigate what was happening. He would end up being killed while attempting to leave (PBS).

Following that incident, Jones told the people to drink a poison ridden juice, which led to the deaths of upwards of 900 people.

The event saw the second largest number of U.S. civilians dead in a non-natural disaster event, only being lower than 9/11 (Rolling Stone).