Lee Man-hee founded Shincheonji Church of Jesus in South Korea in 1984, teaching that he is a messianic figure and…
The FLDS traces back to Mormon fundamentalists who continued practicing polygamy after the mainstream LDS Church officially renounced it in…
L. Ron Hubbard founded the Church of Scientology in 1954, building on ideas from his earlier book Dianetics. The organization…
David Berg founded the Children of God in Huntington Beach, California, in 1968 as an offshoot of the Jesus movement.…
Followers of Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh purchased the 64,000-acre Big Muddy Ranch in Oregon in 1981, incorporating it the…
Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles founded what became Heaven’s Gate in the early 1970s, teaching that Earth was about to…
Aum Shinrikyo was founded by Shoko Asahara in 1984, blending elements of Buddhism, Hinduism, and apocalyptic prophecy, and grew to…
The Branch Davidians descended from a 1950s split within the Seventh-day Adventist Church. David Koresh took over leadership in the…
Peoples Temple was founded by Jim Jones in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1955, initially presenting itself as a progressive Christian congregation…
Charles Manson assembled a group of mostly young followers in California in the late 1960s, drawing on a mix of…