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Andreas Baader was born on 6 May 1943 in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. He died on 18 October 1977 in Stammheim, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Jean-François Martial was born on 12 September 1891 in Walcourt, Wallonia, Belgium. He was an actor and writer, known for Le secret du cargo (1929), Les Vampires (1915) and L'idole brisée (1920). He died on 18 October 1977 in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France.

Gene Coffin was born on 20 August 1905. She was a costume designer, known for Lolita (1962), The Producers (1967) and Bananas (1971). She died on 18 October 1977 in New York City, New York, USA.

Yolanda Washington was born on 28 August 1958 in Los Angeles County, California, USA. She died on 18 October 1977 in Glendale, California, USA.

Jan-Carl Raspe grew up as the son of a factory owner in East Berlin. The father died the year he was born. From 1961 he lived with relatives in West Berlin. In 1963 he graduated from school with a high school diploma. He then studied chemistry and later sociology at the Free University. He completed his studies with a diploma. In 1971 Raspe joined the Red Army Faction. In 1972, Andreas Baader and Gudrun Ensslin returned to Germany from their exile and, as the "Red Army Faction", assumed responsibility for terrorist attacks in May, which they carried out in Augsburg, Hamburg, Karlsruhe and at the US Army headquarters in Heidelberg.

Raspe, who had taken part in the preparations and implementation, was arrested on June 1, 1972 together with Andreas Baader and Holger Meins in Frankfurt am Main and sentenced to life imprisonment on April 28, 1977, after almost two years of trial and 192 days of trial . The trial took place in a purpose-built armored building that was specially built for twelve million DM, right next to the grounds of the Stuttgart-Stammheim prison. Raspe was then imprisoned in Cologne-Ossendorf and later in Stuttgart-Stammheim.

On September 5, 1977, the RAF responded to the verdict by kidnapping Hanns-Martin Schleyer, President of the Confederation of German Employers' Associations. The RAF now demanded that the Federal Republic release Baader and eleven other members who were in custody. The demand was that each of them should receive 100,000 DM and be flown out of Germany. Chancellor Helmut Schmidt refused to give in to the demand and made it clear: "The Federal Republic of Germany cannot be blackmailed." On October 13, 1977, four Arab terrorists hijacked the Lufthansa plane "Landshut" on the flight from Mallorca to Frankfurt with a new destination of Mogadishu. There were 82 passengers and 5 crew members on board the "Landshut".

The Arab kidnappers thus joined the RAF and demanded the release of the RAF members imprisoned in Germany. On October 18, 1977, a special unit of the Federal Border Guard succeeded in a spectacular operation to free the hostages on the tarmac of Mogadishu Airport (Somalia). Just a few hours later, Jan-Carl Raspe, Andreas Baader and Gudrun Ensslin committed suicide after years of solitary confinement in the Stuttgart-Stammheim prison. All police efforts to find and free Hanns-Martin Schleyer were unsuccessful. On October 19, 1977, Hanns-Martin Schleyer was found dead in the trunk of a car.

Jan-Carl Raspe was buried together with his two fellow prisoners Baader and Ensslin in the Dornhaldenfriedhof in Stuttgart.

She grew up in Tuttlingen as the fourth of seven children in a Protestant pastor's family. Her father, Helmut Ensslin, had studied in Tübingen and was in the "Normannia" fraternity there the fraternity brother of Kurt Rebmann, who later became Federal Prosecutor General, who in this position became Gudrun Ensslin's executive "opponent". In 1960 she graduated from a Catholic school. She then studied English, German and pedagogy at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen from 1960 to 1964 and later at the Free University of Berlin. Meanwhile, in 1963, together with the political writer Bernward Vesper, she founded the small publishing house "Studio for New Literature", which, however, only published publications.

In 1967, their son Felix Robert Ensslin was born from her relationship with Vesper. Like Ulrike Meinhof, Ensslin was a scholarship holder of the German National Academic Foundation. Involved in the student unrest of the late 1960s, Ensslin became increasingly involved in the extra-parliamentary opposition and wrote left-wing agitational writings. After the student Benno Ohnesorg was shot by a police officer during the Shah of Persia's visit to Berlin on June 2, 1967, she called for "violence against a violent state" in the office of the Socialist German Student Association. Meanwhile, it is believed that she made the acquaintance of Andreas Baader, who had gone underground.

The ideas of both should escalate into militant actions. Their willingness to use violence was directed, on the one hand, against the conservative Axel Springer publishing house, which sharply criticized the student activities, and, on the other hand, against the affluent society. After arsons in department stores on April 2, 1968, Ensslin was arrested and sentenced to three years in prison along with Andreas Baader, Thorwald Proll and Horst Söhnlein. The verdict became final in November 1969, whereupon Ensslin escaped arrest and fled to France with Andreas Baader. In 1970 he returned to the Federal Republic.

This was where she first came into contact with the Hamburg journalist Ulrike Meinhof, who in turn spoke out vehemently against the omnipotence of the state with the left-wing publication "konkret". Further contacts with like-minded people such as Holger Meins and Jan-Carl Raspe arose in the early 1970s. On May 14, 1970, Gudrun Ensslin, together with Ulrike Meinhof, organized the liberation of Andreas Baader, who had now been re-imprisoned, from prison. The Baader liberation is considered the birth of the "Baader-Meinhof Group". After bank robberies, they traveled to Jordan together with Holger Meins, Baader and Meinhof to join Palestinian guerrillas with other sympathizers, who trained them with weapons for their further actions.

In 1972 they returned to Germany again and, as the "Red Army Faction", took responsibility for terrorist attacks in May, which they carried out in Augsburg, Hamburg as well as in Karlsruhe and at the US Army headquarters in Heidelberg, in which four people were killed came. Gudrun Ensslin was arrested in Hamburg on June 7, 1972. Gudrun Ensslin was imprisoned in the high-security wing of the Stuttgart-Stammheim prison. The following years of negotiations were conducted in a purpose-built armored building, which was specially built for twelve million DM, right next to the grounds of the Stuttgart-Stammheim prison. On April 28, 1977, after almost two years of trial, the RAF prisoners were sentenced to life imprisonment.

On September 5, 1977, the RAF responded to the verdict by kidnapping Hanns-Martin Schleyer, President of the Confederation of German Employers' Associations. The RAF now demanded that the Federal Republic release Baader and eleven other members who were in custody. The demand was that each of them should receive 100,000 DM and be flown out of Germany. Chancellor Helmut Schmidt refused to give in to the demand and made it clear: "The Federal Republic of Germany cannot be blackmailed." On October 13, 1977, four Arab terrorists hijacked the Lufthansa plane "Landshut" on the flight from Mallorca to Frankfurt with a new destination of Mogadishu. There were 82 passengers and 5 crew members on board the "Landshut".

The Arab kidnappers thus joined the RAF and demanded the release of the RAF members imprisoned in Germany. On October 18, 1977, a special unit of the Federal Border Guard succeeded in a spectacular operation to free the hostages on the tarmac of Mogadishu Airport (Somalia). Just a few hours later, Gudrun Ensslin, Andreas Baader and Jan-Carl Raspe committed suicide after years of solitary confinement in the Stuttgart-Stammheim prison. All efforts of the police's attempts to find and free Hanns-Martin Schleyer were unsuccessful. On October 19, 1977, Hanns-Martin Schleyer was found dead in the trunk of a car.

Gudrun Ensslin was buried together with his two fellow prisoners Baader and Raspe in the Dornhaldenfriedhof in Stuttgart.

Leif Möller was born on 22 October 1954 in Stockholm, Sweden. He was an actor and assistant director, known for The Wedding (1973), Company Party (1972) and Det sista äventyret (1974). He died on 18 October 1977 in Stockholm, Sweden.

Gene Lanham was born on 7 November 1915 in Kansas, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for The Judge (1949), Playhouse 90 (1956) and Producers' Showcase (1954). He died on 18 October 1977 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Hal Greene was born on 16 March 1908 in Oklahoma, USA. He was an actor, known for Name the Woman (1934). He died on 18 October 1977 in San Diego, California, USA.

Evgeniy Velikhov was born on 24 April 1907 in Moscow, Russian Empire [now Russia]. He was an actor and director, known for Stakan vody (1957), Byloe i dumy (1972) and Pigmalion (1958). He died on 18 October 1977 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia].

Hanns Martin Schleyer was born on 1 May 1915 in Offenburg, Baden, Germany. He was married to Waltrude Schleyer. He died on 18 October 1977 in northern France.