March 26, 1997: The Heaven's Gate Suicide

March 26, 1997: The mass suicide of 39 members of the Heaven’s Gate cult is discovered in Rancho Santa Fe, California, outside San Diego.

The cult was founded in 1974 by Marshall Applewhite, a teacher, and Bonnie Nettles, a nurse. Applewhite was born in Spur, in the Texas Panhandle, on May 17, 1931, 4 days after another cult leader, the Rev. Jim Jones. Applewhite didn't kill nearly as many people as Jones did, but it was bad enough.

Applewhite was the son of a minister, and grew up all the way across Texas, in Corpus Christi. He cited the death of his father as the cause of a depression that led him to quit his teaching job. He met Nettles, and they studied mysticism together. He and Nettles called themselves "Do" and "Ti" after the musical notes, and taught their followers that they would be visited by extraterrestrials who would taken them to their spaceship, and provide them with new bodies, allowing them to reach a higher state of consciousness.

Nettles died in 1985. Whether she attained anything like what she and Applewhite were teaching, no one on Earth can say for sure. In the 1990s, Applewhite was one of the earliest people to figure out how to use "the information superhighway," what would later be called the Internet, to sell his product -- in his case, this unusual idea of enlightenment.

In 1996, Applewhite learned of Comet Hale-Bopp, which would approach Earth the following year. He told his followers that this was it. Unlike the Rev. Jim Jones in Guyana in 1978, there was no violence, no coercion. He simply told his followers that a mass suicide on their ranch would allow the ascension.

Applewhite/Do wrote a final message on the Heaven's Gate website, including a tribute to Nettles/Ti: "Hale–Bopp brings closure to Heaven's Gate... Our 22 years of classroom here on planet Earth is finally coming to conclusion: 'graduation' from the Human Evolutionary Level. We are happily prepared to leave 'this world' and go with Ti's crew."

When the authorities broke in, they found 39 people, including Applewhite, in their beds, with triangular shrouds over their bodies. They were all wearing identical Nike sneakers, which produced a "Just Do It" parody on Saturday Night Live.

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March 26, 1997 was a Monday. Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. There were 9 games in the NBA that night:

* The New York Knicks beat the Detroit Pistons, 105-94 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New Jersey Nets beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 123-105 at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands.

* The Washington Bullets beat the Boston Celtics, 105-92 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Charlotte Hornets, 88-87 at the Charlotte Coliseum.

* The Miami Heat beat the Sacramento Kings, 101-88 at the American Airlines Arena in Miami. (It's now named the FTX Arena.)

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Dallas Mavericks, 104-80 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

* The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Denver Nuggets 102-100 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 106-84 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* And the Phoenix Suns beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 109-107 at the KeyArena in Seattle.

There were 6 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders beat the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2 at the Marine Midland Arena in Buffalo. (It's now named the KeyBank Center.) Bryan Berard scored the winning goal, exactly 1 minute into overtime.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 8-5 at the Molson Centre in Montreal. (It's now named the Bell Centre.)

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Colorado Avalanche, 6-5 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. Darren McCarty scored the game-winner, 39 seconds into overtime.

* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Washington Capitals, 5-3 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the San Jose Sharks, 2-1 at the San Jose Arena. (It's now named the SAP Center.)

* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 5-3 at GM Place in Vancouver. (It's now named the Rogers Arena.)