Notable moments in convention history

• 1830: The first national political convention is convened in Philadelphia by the Anti-Masonic Party.

• 1831: The shortlived National Republican Party, formed in opposition to Andrew Jackson, holds the first convention to feature a keynote speaker.

• 1832: The first Democratic National Convention meets in Baltimore and becomes a prototype for the modern political convention.

• 1844: Democrats choose James Polk over Martin Van Buren, making Polk the first dark horse ever selected at a convention. News is relayed by a new device – the telegraph.

• 1856: The first Republican National Convention is held in Philadelphia, where delegates form the outlines of today's Republican Party.

• 1860: Republicans select Abraham Lincoln as their nominee over preconvention favorite William Seward.

• 1896: William Jennings Bryan delivers his famous "cross of gold" speech at the Democratic National Convention, captivating delegates and winning the nomination at age 36.

•1912: Republicans select William Howard Taft over Teddy Roosevelt, causing Roosevelt to bolt from the party and run on the Progressive ("Bull Moose") ticket.

• 1924: Democrats take 103 ballots to nominate a candidate in the longest-running convention (16 days) in US history. Delegates consider nominating the first woman, Lena Springs, for vice president.

• 1924: Coverage of both conventions is broadcast over radio for the first time. Only 4.7 percent of American homes own radios.

• 1940: Eleanor Roosevelt delivers a stirring speech that mollifies a fractured Democratic Party, one night after her husband, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was nominated for an unprecedented third term.

• 1948: Democrats, hoping to draft Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, instead settle for Harry Truman. He delivers a surprising convention speech and eventually wins the election running against a " do-nothing Congress."

• 1964: Conservative Republicans prevail in nominating Barry Goldwater over moderate William Scranton. Goldwater gets trounced in the election, but the Republican Party shifts to the right and begins to take control of the South.

• 1968: Democrats, fractured over the Vietnam War, nominate Hubert Humphrey at a convention in Chicago wracked by antiwar protests in the streets.

• 1976: The Republican convention opens without a clear nominee – the last time that has happened. President Gerald Ford ends up defeating Ronald Reagan on the first ballot, but Reagan delivers a rousing speech.