“You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.” With those stirring words, William Jennings Bryan, a dark horse from Nebraska, electrified the Democratic National Convention in 1896 and won his party’s presidential nomination. Bryan, a former congressman, was an ardent supporter of bimetallism and the free coinage of silver. Although his eloquence won support for his views on the campaign trail, he lost the election to Republican William McKinley.

In other noteworthy news of 1896:

• The first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens, Greece. 
• The Tootsie Roll was introduced.
• Following the abandonment of polygamy by the Mormon Church, Utah was admitted as the 45th state.
• Giacomo Puccini's opera La Boheme premiered in Turin, Italy.
• A tornado touched down in St Louis, killing 255 people and leaving thousands homeless.
• A tsunami swamped a Shinto festival in Japan, killing 27,000, injuring 9,000 and destroying 13,000 homes.
• The city of Miami, Florida, was incorporated.
• Henry Ford drove his first Ford automobile through the streets of Detroit.
• Bob Fitzsimmons knocked out the much larger Jim Corbett to win the world heavyweight boxing championship. Afterward, Fitzsimmons said: "The bigger they are, the harder they fall."
• Gold was discovered in Canada’s Yukon Territory.

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