TODAY IN HISTORY

On this day in 1985

Mexico City, the world’s most populous capital, was hit by a devastating earthquake. It was followed by another major quake the next day. Many buildings, including schools, hospitals and highrises, were destroyed and at least 9,500 people were killed. Canada immediately set aside $1 million in emergency aid to help victims of the quakes. Also on this day:

In 1648, Jacques Boisdon opened Canada’s first tavern in Quebec City.

In 1654, in the first Canadian marriage on record, 11-year-old Marguerite Sedilot married 20-year-old Jean Aubuchon in Trois-Rivieres, Que. The couple had 16 children.

In 1 9 4 1, Kyiv, capital of Ukraine, fell to the Germans during the Second World War after the death of 600,000 soldiers on both sides.

In 1980, Marathon of Hope runner Terry Fox, 22, was made the youngest companion of the Order of Canada.

In 1988, the American Senate ratified the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement by a vote of 83-to-9. The vote marked the last step in the American legislative approval process. The agreement, aimed at eliminating trade barriers, began taking effect the following January.

In 2000, Reform party leader Stockwell Day was sworn in as leader of the Official Opposition, and Joe Clark, the former Conservative prime minister, returned to the House of Commons after seven years.

In 2007, Canada formalized a landmark $1.9-billion compensation deal for an estimated 80,000 former students of 130 residential schools run by churches and funded by the federal government from the 1870s until the mid-1970s, for the sexual, physical and psychological abuse they endured.