Disclaimer: This article contains violence and suicide. Read with caution.

The Jonestown massacre remains one of the darkest moments in American history. In 1978, more than 900 members of the Peoples Temple died in a mass murder-suicide. The tragedy, which took place in Jonestown, a religious commune in Guyana, was ordered by cult leader Jim Jones. Over the years, the horrific massacre has been revisited in several documentaries, including the latest docuseries Cult Massacre: One Day in Jonestown.

According to The Guardian, Jones ordered his followers to kill California congressman Leo Ryan and several journalists. The group was on a "fact-finding mission to Jonestown." On November 18, 1978, after the congressman's visit was cut short, the delegation was escorted to the airstrip by Jones's deputies. As they boarded the plane, the escorts opened fire on them. Meanwhile, in Jonestown, the cult leader announced that the U.S. congressman had already been killed and that mass suicide was the only option left to the remaining members.

Some were willing, while others were forced; the people of Jonestown were given cups of cyanide punch and syringes, The Guardian reported. More than 300 children were poisoned. The FBI later recovered audiotapes from the commune, on which they were heard crying and wailing. After the ordeal, Guyanese troops found Jonestown "strewn with bodies." Jones was also found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.