NOVEMBER 18 — 1978 Mass suicide at Jonestown; 1901 Happy Birthday George Gallup (pollster); 1874 Happy Birthday Carrie White, lived up to 116; 2007 New England Pats continue domination with 56-10 victory over Bills
NOVEMBER 18
1978 –Mass suicide at Jonestown.
…Don’t drink the kool-aid! Cult leader Jim Jones, born in 1931 in Indiana, began a religious quest as a young boy. In the 1950s, he was a known healer, evangelist, and aired a sermon on the radio. He established a racially integrated religion called Wings of Deliverance and moved to northern California. He created an establishment in the small town of Ukiah, and opened a church in San Francisco. Then the brainwashing began.
His followers were giving up more than just their personal belongings to them; he also apparently impregnated a few followers. His church was accused by the media of financial fraud physical abuse of its members and mistreatment of children. Jones moved his congregation down to Guyana where he built a tiny town in the jungles. About 1,000 people followed him down there but it was not what they thought it was going to be. He called this place Jonestown. He confiscated their passports, censored their letters home, made them work in the fields all day, and had armed guard surrounding the place. He then began performing mock suicide drills by waking up some of his followers in the middle of the night to drink what he told them was poisoned punch, basically, testing them for loyalty. His reputation grew worse, and was being looked at by the Guyana government. California congressman Leo J. Ryan flew down to Jonestown to check it out.
On November 17, 1978, Ryan along with an NBC camera crew arrived to tour the compound. When some of the members asked Leo to go back home with him, Jones became upset at this defection and ordered one of his lieutenants to ambush the Ryan and his crew. When they got to the airstrip, Congressman Ryan and his group were all killed at the airstrip as they were trying to leave. Now that Jones realized everything was about to hit the fan, he had a batch of punch mixed with cyanide and Valium and forced all 900 members, including 276 children, to drink it. Those who refused were threatened by gunpoint. When officials got to the scene, they found Jonestown covered with hundreds and hundreds of bodies. Many people died with their arms around each other.
1901 – Happy birthday George Gallup.
…He took polls. Like him? Hate him? Sometimes doesn’t give you the numbers you wanted? Yeah, I get it. He is known to conduct some of the more trusted polls in America; Life ranked him one of the 100 most important Americans of the 20th Century. In order to stay objective and independent, Gallup set up his pools in the 1930s to not undertake any polling that was paid for or was sponsored in any way by special interest groups, including Republicans and Democrats. Gallup correctly forecasted the defeat of Alfred Landon by Franklin D. Roosevelt, and after that the word Gallup became a household name.
1874 Happy birthday Carrie White, she would go on record to claim to be the oldest person in the United States upon her death in 1990 at the age of 116.
2007 – Already 10-0, the New England Pats slaughtered the Buffalo Bills, 56-10. I remember that game vividly. Tom Brady threw 5 TD’s, 54 to Randy Moss. Then another one to a fourth string running-back. Pats were on their way to the first perfect season since the 1972 Miami Dolphins.