Today in History: November 18, more than 900 die at Jonestown
Today is Monday, Nov. 18, the 323rd day of 2024. There are 43 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On Nov. 18, 1978, U.S. Rep. Leo J. Ryan of California and four others were killed on an airstrip in Jonestown, Guyana, by members of the Peoples Temple; the killings were followed by a night of mass murder and suicide resulting in the deaths of more than 900 cult members.
Also on this date:
In 1928, “Steamboat Willie,” the first cartoon with synchronized sound as well as the first release of the character Mickey Mouse, debuted on screen at the Colony Theater in New York.
In 1987, an underground fire broke out in the King’s Cross St Pancras subway station in London, causing 31 deaths.
In 1991, Shiite Muslim kidnappers in Lebanon freed Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite and Thomas Sutherland, the American dean of agriculture at the American University of Beirut.
In 1999, 12 people were killed and 27 injured when a bonfire under construction at Texas A&M University collapsed.
In 2003, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that the state constitution guaranteed gay couples the right to marry, the first state supreme court to do so.
In 2005, eight months after Robert Blake was acquitted of murdering his wife at a criminal trial, a civil jury decided the actor was behind the killing and ordered him to pay Bonny Lee Bakley’s children $30 million.
In 2021, more than half a century after the assassination of Malcolm X, two of his convicted killers were exonerated; a New York judge dismissed the convictions of Muhammad Aziz and the late Khalil Islam after prosecutors and the men’s lawyers said a renewed investigation had found new evidence that undermined the case against them.
Today’s Birthdays: Author Margaret Atwood is 85. Actor Linda Evans is 82. Actor Delroy Lindo is 72. Comedian Kevin Nealon is 71. Football Hall of Famer Warren Moon is 68. Actor Oscar Nunez is 66. Actor Elizabeth Perkins is 64. Rock musician Kirk Hammett (Metallica) is 62. Author and lecturer Brené Brown is 59. Actor Romany Malco is 56. Actor Owen Wilson is 56. Commentator Megan Kelly is 54. Actor Chloe Sevigny (SEH’-ven-ee) is 50. Baseball Hall of Famer David Ortiz is 49. Rapper Fabolous is 47. NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin is 44. Actor-comedian Nasim Pedrad (nah-SEEM’ peh-DRAHD’) is 43. Actor Damon Wayans Jr. is 42. Olympic track and field gold medalist Allyson Felix is 39. Fashion designer Christian Siriano is 39. Actor Nathan Kress is 32. NFL quarterback Caleb Williams is 23.