What happened this day in history: October 11
1492 - Christopher Columbus’ ships sighted land on the horizon - it was the Bahamas.
1887 - The elevator was patented.
1899 - The Boer War began.
1919 - In-flight catering began when pre-packed box lunches were served on a London to Paris flight.
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Hide Ad1948 - The BBC broadcast from Downing Street for the first time.
1957 - The largest radio telescope in the world was switched on at Jodrell Bank in Cheshire.
1958 - The first edition of BBC’s ‘Grandstand’ programme aired.
1966 - The Post Office announced all home and business addresses in Britain were to be allocated postcodes.
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Hide Ad1982 - The Mary Rose, the pride of Henry VIII’s fleet until it sank in The Solent in 1545 , was raised from the seabed off Portsmouth.
1986 - Mother Teresa escaped unhurt from a plane crash in Tanzania that killed six people.
1987 - A major sonar exploration of Loch Ness in Scotland failed to find a monster.
2000 - Scotland’s first minister, Donald Dewar, died aged 63.