WEDNESDAY, Feb. 4, 2026

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 U.S. 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 U.S. federal grand jury for drug trafficking and racketeering

2004-Mark Zuckerberg launches Facebook from his Harvard dormitory room