Jim Jones

The charismatic leader of the Peoples Temple, a movement that initially integrated racial equality and social justice into a communal religious framework. He founded Jonestown in Guyana as a socialist utopia, but the project descended into a paranoid and abusive cult of personality. He is infamous for orchestrating the mass murder-suicide of over 900 followers in 1978 via cyanide-laced punch. He famously stated, "Death is a revolutionary act," leading his congregation into the largest loss of American civilian life in a single non-natural event until 9/11. His name has since become a global synonym for the ultimate dangers of blind obedience and charismatic authoritarianism.