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Quick Facts
- NAME: James Warren Jones
- OCCUPATION: Cult Leader
- BIRTH DATE: May 13, 1931
- DEATH DATE: November 18, 1978
- EDUCATION: Indiana University, Bloomington, Butler University
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Crete, Indiana
- PLACE OF DEATH: Jonestown, Guyana
Best Known For
Jim Jones was the leader of the religious cult Peoples Temple. He lead a mass suicide event of more than 900 people, the largest mass suicide in history.
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Jim Jones - Mini Bio (2:15)
Jim Jones - Mini Bio
After first moving to California Jim Jones, took his followers to a farm in Guyana called Jonestown. He grew paranoid about defecting members, and after a visit from Congressman Leo Ryan, ordered a mass suicide.
Jim Jones. (2012). Biography.com. Retrieved 01:14, May 27, 2012 from http://www.biography.com/people/jim-jones-10367607
Jim Jones [Internet]. 2012. http://www.biography.com/people/jim-jones-10367607, May 27
" Jim Jones." 2012. Biography.com 27 May 2012, 01:14 http://www.biography.com/people/jim-jones-10367607
' Jim Jones', Biography.com,(2012) http://www.biography.com/people/jim-jones-10367607 [accessed May 27, 2012]
" Jim Jones," Biography.com, http://www.biography.com/people/jim-jones-10367607 (accessed May 27, 2012).
Jim Jones [Internet]. Biography.com; 2012 [cited 2012 May 27]. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/jim-jones-10367607.
Jim Jones, http://www.biography.com/people/jim-jones-10367607 (last visited May 27, 2012).
Jim Jones, http://www.biography.com/people/jim-jones-10367607 (last visited May 27, 2012).
Synopsis
Jim Jones was the founder and leader of the religious cult, Peoples Temple. Jones founded the quasi-religious organization in 1955 in Indiana. He later moved to San Francisco and then to Guyana. On November 18, 1978, he lead a mass suicide of more than 900 people, the largest mass suicide in history. Cult members drank a cyanide-laced punch. Jones died that day of a bullet wound to the head.
Profile
Religious cult leader. Born in 1931 in Lynn, Indiana. An influential Indianapolis preacher, Jones formed the People's Temple in 1955, which he moved to California in the late 1960s. After Jones became the subject of criminal investigations, particularly with regard to his alleged diversion of cult members' donations for his personal use, he and about 1,000 followers relocated to Jonestown, Guyana, in 1977.
In November 1978, cult members killed Congressman Leo J. Ryan as he attempted to leave the People's Temple compound after an investigatory visit. The following day, Jones orchestrated the mass suicide of more than 900 followers, who were compelled to drink cyanide-laced punch. Jones died the same day of a bullet wound to the head.
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