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Jim Jones forms the Community Unity Church
Jim Jones forms his own congregation, the Community Unity Church, in Indianapolis. Jones preaches racial equality in the Community Unity Church. -
Jim Jones renames his congregation The Peoples Temple
Jim Jones moves his congregation to a rented space on 15th and New Jersey streets and calls it "Wings of Deliverance". Later that year he moves to a former synagogue and renames it The Peoples Temple. -
The Peoples Temple opens a soup kitchen for the starving.
Jones expands the Temples social outreach by opening up a soup kitchen to those in need. The Church is latter accepted by the Deciples of Christ denomination. -
Jones is appointed the first director of the Indianapolic human rights commission
Jim Jones is appointed the first director of the Indianapolis human rights commission. Jones ingnores advice to keep a low profile and uses many public outlets to voice his views, local radio and television. He successfully integrates churches, restaurants a theatre, the police department and a Methodist hospital. -
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Jim Jones moves to Brazil
Jones was in fear of a Nuclear holocaust. In 1962, Esquire magazine lists the 9 safest places to avoid a thermonuclear blast anf fallout. Jones moves his family to Brazil leaving the Peoples Temple to function without him. Jones teaches English at a University in Rio De Janerio while he searches for a location to resettle the church.
Jones returns to Indianapolis in 1963. -
Peoples Temple moves to California
In 1965 Jones, his family and about 140 church members relocate to Ukiah California amidst fears of a nuclear holocaust. -
Peoples Temple reaches 300 members
After 4 years in Califnornia the Peoples Temple membership has more than doubled from when it initially moved to California. -
Peoples Temple relocates
By the Early 70s Jones was realising that there was little room for expansion in Ukiah, in 1971 he moved the Temples main head quarters to San Francisco. A year later he openes up another facility in Los Angeles. -
Peoples Temple begins using its political power
The Temple begins using buses to recruit new members from around the state and buying time on religious radio across the country. -
Peoples Temple reaches 2,570 members
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Temple authorises establishment of agricultural project in Guyana
In 1973 the Peoples Temple board of directors voted to create a Temple branch and agricultural mission in Guyana (Jones had visited while living in Brazil), labeling it a socialist paradise. Plans for the mission are under way by December that year. -
Temple members arrive in Guyana
After less than a year of planning a crew of Peoples Temple members arrive in Guyana and negotiate a lease with the Guyanese government for over 3800 acres of jungle, 250km west of the nations capital Georgetown. The Guyanese government soon granted the Temple permission to import certain items duty free. Latter bribery to Guyanese customs safeguarded the importation of firearms and drugs into Jonestown. -
Jones named one of top 100 clergymen in the nation
In 1975 Religion in American life magazine named Jim Jones one of the top 100 outstanding clergymen in America. Rev. Jim Jones has been named as one of the nation’s 100 Outstanding Clergymen by Religion in American Life, a large and highly regarded interfaith organization. Jones, who established the Peoples Temple Christian Churches (all part of the 1.4 million member Christian Church [Disciples of Christ] denomination, of which FBI Director Clarence Kelley and several U.S. Senators and Cong -
Jones obtains jewlers licence
In 1976 Jones obatined a jewlers licence allowing him to import monthly shipments of cyanide into Jonestown -
Mass Migration to Jonestown
With the growing pressence of media investigations in San Francisco Jones and several hundres Temple members permanently relocate to Jonestown. Jones leaves California the night he reads a soon to be published article containing allegations of abuse by former Temple members. -
John Stoen custody battle
In 1977, Temple defectors Tim and Grace Stoen battled the temple in a Georgetown court for the return of their 5 year old son. A few days later a final order was issued for John to be taken into protective custody. Fearing being held in contempt, Jones staged a snipper attempt on himself and beging a series of events he reffered to as White nights. -
First White Night suicide drill
At Jonestown Jones would frequently adress that intelligence agencies where conspiring with "capitalist pigs" to take down Jonestown. Jones ocassionaly conducted what he reffered to as White Nights. During White nights Jones would raise 4 options for dealing with the made up threat of capitalist interferance, flee to the Soviet Union, flee into the jungle, remain in Jonestown and fight attacks or commit revolutionary suicide. On at least 2 occasions mass suicide was rehearsed as a loyalty test. -
Timothy Stoen and the concerned relatives
Between late 77 and early 78 Grace and Tomithy Stoen and other temple defectors start meeting with relatives of Jonestown residents and form a group known as the concerned relatives. The concerned relatives write a series of letters and travel to Washington in an attempt to open an investigation into Jonestown. In January 1978 Timithy Stoen catches the ear of United States congressman Leo Ryan. -
Jones health declines
In 1978 Jones was told that he might have a lung infection, he then falsely informed his followers that he had lung cancer. Jones had been abusing injectable LSD, vallium, quaaluds and stimulants for many years. Audio tapes from 1978 hear Jones complaining of high blood preasure, small strokes, rapid weight loss, chronic insomnia, tempoary blindness and in early November swelling of extremities. Jones mental health was also declining, his paranioa and megalomania grew worse in his final months. -
Jonestown reaches its height
Jonestown reached its hieght of almost 1000 members in 1978. -
Leo Ryan visits Jonestown
On the 14th of November 1978 congressman Leo Ryan and a delegation of 18 people flew into Jonestown. Jones initially refused the delegation entry into Jonestown, however by Friday November 17 Jones was informed that Ryan would likely visit that day regardless of Jones willingness. Jones arrived at the Port Kiatuma airstrip, 10 kilometers from Jonestown,later that day with his delegation and 4 Concerned Relatives. Jones initially only allows Ryan and 3 others, the rest are let in after sunset. -
Defectors aproach Ryan
None of the 60 relatives Ryan had interviewed had showed any desire to leave, however 14 other Temple members did request to defect with Ryan. In Ryans report he noted that 14 out of more than 900 people was a very small percentile and any sence of imprisionment was most likely peer preasure, he also noted that even if 200 of the 900 residents wanted to leave "I'd still say you have a beautiful place here". Despite the positive report Jones maitained that "I have failed" and "All is lost". -
The group arrives at Port Kaituma
The Delegation had initially scheduled a 19 seat twin otter, but with the defectors departing Jonestown, the US embassy had arranged for a second place, a 6 seat Cessna. The group arrived at the airstrip at roughly 4:30pm but the aircrafts did not land until 5:10pm. Larry Layton was on board the Cessna. -
Larry Layton joins the defectors
Most of the delegation and the defectors depart on a dump truck heading towards the Port Kaituma airstrip while Ryan and one other remain in Jonestown to process any additional defectors. Just before the dump truck departs Temple loyalist Larry Layton joins the group, the defectors are suspicious of his motivs. -
Ryan dies at the airstrip
The first few seconds of the shooting where captured on tape by a member of Ryans delegation, NBC cameraman Bod Brown, before he was fatally shot. Two other members of the delegation and one defector where killed in just a few minuted of shooting. Ryan was killed after being shot more than 20 times. 9 others where injured. After the shooting the pilot and co-pilot of the now damaged Otter board the Cessna and fly to Georgetown leaving the 9 injured behind on the airstrip. -
Grape flavoured Aid
Before the "death tape" meeting Temple hands prepared a large metal barrel with grape Flavour Aid, poisoned with Vallium, chloral hydrate, Phenergan and cyanide. -
The Thousand yard stare
On the "death tape" the Red Brigade returns and Jones confirms that Ryan has been killed, no dissent is heard on the tape after that. Former US Vietnam war veteran sited that the shooters had the thousand yard stare. Several Temple members then gave speaches praising Jones for his commitment to revolutionary suicide. Jones begged for the process to go faster. -
Layton produces firearm
The small Cessna had been set up to take off first. Just as the aircraft taxied to the far end of the runway Larry Layton produced a gun and started shooting at passangers. He wounded 2 passangers before another disarmed him.
Back at Jonestown Jones told his followers "one of the people on that plane is gonna shoot the pilot, I know that. I didn't plan it but I know it's going to happen. -
Port Kaituma airstrip shooting
While Layton was producing a gun on the Cessna, other passangers had begun boarding the larger Twin Otter. As they boarded a tractor with a trailer attached driven by members of the Temples Red Brigade security squad pulled up 9 meters from the aircraft. The Red Brigade then opened fire on the aircraft at roughly the same time as the shootings on the Cessna. There where anywhere between 2 and 9 shooters whose identities are not all known, but most sources seem to agree on 3 of the shooters. -
The Death Tape
Back at Jonestown a 44 minute casset tape know as the "death tape" records a meeting Jones held in the Jonestown avillion early that night. On the tape Jones urged Temple members to commit revolutionary sucide, in the theory that you can go down in history, choosing your own way, refusing capitalism and supporting socialism. One Temple member, Christine Miller, suggested alternativly an airlift ro Russia, but Jones and other Temple members where quick to dismiss this as not possible. -
Drink the Kool Aid-To follow blindly
Adults lined up to drink the Aidwhile infants had it squirted in their mouths by a syringe with the needle removed. A survivor recalled that after drinking the poison many showed "a relcutance to die".
Jones anounced "die with a degree of dignity" he urged everyone to drink the poison "death is a million times prefferable to 10 more days of this life". In the background of the tape children can be heard crying and screaming. Some temple members possibly thought this was another loyalty test. -
Jim Jones death
Jones was found dead, beside 2 other bodies, of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to his left temple.
918 people died that day between Jonestown and the airstrip, roughly one third of them where children. The events of Jonestown onstituted the single greatest deliberate loss of American sivillian life until the September 11 attacks in 2001. -
Don Sly attacks Ryan
Shortly after the truck departs knife-weilding Temple member Don "Ujara" Sly grabs hold of Ryan. Sly is wrestled to the ground by others and Ryan walks away unhurt. Ryan leaves Jonestown and catches up with the truck while the remaining member of his entourage files a criminal report against Sly. -
Larry Layton aquitted of Cessna shooting
After 2 years in a Georgetown jail Larry Layton was aquitted of the Cessna shooting due to apparent "brainwashing". -
Larry Layton found guilty
Layton could not be tried for the same crime back in the US, but was instead tried under a federal statute with aiding and abetting the murder of US congressman Leo Ryan. In 1986 Layton was sentanced to 20 years which was later reduced to 18 years becuase of time already served in Guyana. He was paroled in April 2002.
Layton is the only person to ever be held criminally responsible for the events of Jonestown.
