What is "jonestown"

"Jonestown" was the informal name for the '''Peoples Temple Agricultural Project ''' formed by the Peoples Temple, an American religious organization under the leadership of Jim Jones, in northwestern Guyana. It became internationally notorious when on November 18, 1978, over 900 people died in the remote commune, at the nearby airstrip in Port Kaituma, and in Georgetown, Guyana's capital city. The name of the settlement became synonymous with the incidents at those locations.

A total of 909 Americans died in Jonestown, all but two from apparent cyanide poisoning, in an event termed "revolutionary suicide" by Jones and some members on an audio tape of the event and in prior discussions. The poisonings in Jonestown followed the murder of five others by Temple members at Port Kaituma, including United States Congressman Leo Ryan. Four other Temple members died in Georgetown at Jones' command.

The actions in Jonestown have been commonly viewed as mass suicide, although some sources, including Jonestown survivors, regard them as mass murder instead. It was the largest such event in modern history and resulted in the largest single loss of American civilian life in a deliberate act until September 11, 2001. In recent years, the Jonestown massacre has been the subject of several conspiracy theories.

Jonestown was the site of the 1978 mass suicide-and-murder of the Peoples Temple cult, in northwestern Guyana, the placename being also a term for the incident.

Jonestown may also refer to:

Jonestown is an album by Canadian rapper D-Sisive. The album, which was the second full-length release by the artist in 2009, was made available for a free download in late 2009. The album art features a jug of Kool-Aid, an allusion to the phrase Drinking the Kool-Aid, which is associated with the Jonestown Massacre.

Jonestown is an album by Sofia Talvik and was released 2008.