211 Roman Emperor Septimius Severus dies in Eboracum (York) in England, leaving the Roman Empire in the hands of his two quarrelsome sons, Caracalla and Geta

960 Coronation of Zhao Kuangyin as Emperor Taizu of the Song initiates three centuries of Song Dynasty dominance in southern China

1789 First US Electoral College chooses George Washington as President and John Adams as Vice President

1859 One of the oldest known copies of the Bible, “The Codex Sinaiticus” (Sinai Bible), is seen in Egypt by Constantin von Tischendorf, who takes the manuscript home

1865 Robert E. Lee is named general-in-chief of Confederate forces

1969 The Palestine National Congress appoints Yasser Arafat chairman of the PLO

1988: Panamanian General Manuel Noriega is indicted by a US federal grand jury for drug trafficking and racketeering

2004: Mark Zuckerberg launches Facebook from his Harvard dormitory room

Source: Onthisday.com