(Friday, July 10, 1896, 3:05 a.m. CST) — Former Representative William Jennings Bryan of Nebraska was nominated for president of the United States early this morning at the 1896 Democratic National Convention at the Chicago Coliseum in Chicago.

Former Representative Richard P. Bland of Missouri led the first ballot with 235 votes to Bryan’s 137. But Bryan surged after his electrifying Cross of Gold speech and captured the nomination on the fifth ballot, defeating former Governor Robert E. Pattison of Pennsylvania by a margin of 652-95.

Bryan’s keynote “Cross of Gold” address — delivered before delegates cast their votes — attacked powerful Eastern financial interests for backing the gold standard at the expense of farmers and laborers.

The fiery speech amounted to a direct rebuke of the policies of President Grover Cleveland, but it electrified convention delegates and transformed Bryan into the party’s standard-bearer virtually overnight.

At 36 years old, Bryan became the youngest major-party presidential nominee in American history, just one year above the Constitution’s minimum age requirement.

The convention then turned to the vice presidential nomination, with newspaper publisher John Roll McLean of Ohio, former Representative George F. Williams of Massachusetts, and former Attorney General Augustus Hill Garland among the names floated for the spot. Businessman Arthur Sewall of Maine ultimately secured the nomination on the fifth ballot, defeating Senator John W. Daniel of Virginia 568 to 36 votes.

Bryan and Sewall would go on to face the Republican ticket of William McKinley and Garret Hobart in the 1896 presidential election, while the People’s Party and Silver Republican Party also backed Bryan for president.