Today is Sunday, Sept. 21, the 264th day of 2025. There are 101 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Sept. 21, 2013, an attack by armed militants in the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya left 67 people dead and hundreds injured.

Also on this date:

In 1792, the National Convention of France issued a proclamation announcing the abolition of the French monarchy.

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In 1898, in response to a letter from 8-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon, the New York Sun newspaper wrote an editorial containing the famous line “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.”

In 1915, Cecil Chubb purchased Stonehenge for £6,600; the last private owner of the site, Chubb donated it to the British people three years later.

In 1922, President Warren Harding signed the Lodge-Fish Resolution, a Congressional resolution endorsing the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine.

In 1937, “The Hobbit,” by J.R.R. Tolkien, was first published by George Allen & Unwin Ltd. of London.

In 1938, a hurricane made U.S. landfall, striking parts of New York and New England while causing widespread damage and claiming some 700 lives.

In 1939, Romanian Prime Minister Armand Călinescu was assassinated by members of the fascist Iron Guard movement.

In 1955, at Yankee Stadium in New York, boxer Rocky Marciano completed his undefeated professional career by knocking out Archie Moore in the ninth round of their title fight.

In 1970, Monday Night Football made its debut on ABC, with the Cleveland Browns defeating the New York Jets 31-21.

In 1981, the Senate unanimously confirmed the nomination of Sandra Day O’Connor to become the first female justice on the Supreme Court.

In 1989, Hurricane Hugo crashed into South Carolina; the storm was blamed for 56 deaths in the Caribbean and 29 in the United States.

In 2022, Russia’s Vladimir Putin ordered a mobilization of reservists for the first time since World War II, nearly seven months after invading Ukraine.

Today’s Birthdays:

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer is 82.
Musician Don Felder is 78.
Author Stephen King is 78.
Basketball Hall of Famer Artis Gilmore is 76.
Actor-comedian Bill Murray is 75.
Race car driver Arie Luyendyk is 72.
Filmmaker Ethan Coen is 68.
Basketball Hall of Famer Sidney Moncrief is 68.
Actor-comedian Dave Coulier is 66.
Actor David James Elliott is 65.
Actor Nancy Travis is 64.
Actor Rob Morrow is 63.
Actor Angus Macfadyen is 62.
Actor Cheryl Hines is 60.
Country singer Faith Hill is 58.
Actor-talk show host Ricki Lake is 57.
Actor Billy Porter is 56.
Actor Alfonso Ribeiro (rih-BEHR’-oh) is 54.
Actor Luke Wilson is 54.
Musician Liam Gallagher (Oasis) is 53.
TV personality Nicole Richie is 44.
Actor Maggie Grace is 42.
Actor Joseph Mazzello is 42.
Rapper Wale (WAH’-lay) is 41.
Singer Jason Derulo is 36.
Cyclist Tadej Pogačar is 27.

Ever since it opened in 1963 with a modern-dress take on Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” Minneapolis’ Guthrie Theater has been updating the classics in an effort to make the creations of centuries past feel prescient for contemporary audiences.

In the case of the company’s season-opening production of Henrik Ibsen’s 1879 drama “A Doll’s House,” appearances can deceive, for Luciana Stecconi’s set and Trevor Bowen’s costumes look quite faithful to the year of its writing. But playwright Amy Herzog has authored an adaptation that sounds right at home in 2025. The language is considerably less flowery and formal than in Ibsen’s original, and each character is much more approachable, successfully bridging the cultural distance between then and now.

And thanks to six disarmingly powerful portrayals and Tracy Brigden’s detail-oriented direction, this production makes impeccably clear why this classic play is still so urgently important. It feels like the kind of interpretation that Sir Tyrone Guthrie had in mind when he first hung out his shingle here in the center of North America.

By the end of this two-hour show, it’s become clear why this play was considered such a landmark when it premiered, why newspapers were printing editorials and letters discussing its denouement, and why some producers and performers balked at presenting it. But the Guthrie’s latest version feels not the least bit dated, making a strong case that the issues it raises have never been satisfactorily resolved.

“A Doll’s House” takes us into the household of Nora and Torvald Helmer, a seemingly happy upper-middle-class couple on the economic ascent after some tough years. He’s about to be named head of a bank and has recovered from a life-threatening health scare that was waylaid by treatment in Italy. But how that journey was financed becomes a sticking point, for a loan was involved, one initiated by Nora. And women weren’t allowed to do that in 1879 Norway. Was fraud involved? And, if so, will that make her subject to blackmail?

Herzog’s script dispenses with anything extraneous to driving the story forward, and that makes the conflict gripping, as do the invariably outstanding performances.

Foremost among them is Amelia Pedlow’s Nora. For much of the play’s early going, it seems as if Pedlow has taken the bubbly matchmaker protagonist from Jane Austen’s “Emma” that she portrayed on the same stage in 2022 and transported her to 19th-century Norway. Her Nora seems flighty and light-hearted – as her husband seems to see her – until a crisis begins to take shape within their house. She grows increasingly complex as she subtly evolves, Pedlow shaping her into a woman who commands your attention and respect.

She’s complemented splendidly by David Andrew Macdonald’s elegant but self-absorbed Torvald. His performance is a triumph of naturalism, as is that of Andrew May, who brings layered emotional textures to the couple’s best friend.

Both Catherine Eaton and Ricardo Chavira do fine things with their parts, as well, although there’s the sense that Herzog’s trimming (some productions of “A Doll’s House” run three hours, but this comes in at two) left them little time to flesh out their characters’ transformations.

Nevertheless, this is a very rewarding production that presents an eloquent argument for why Ibsen is considered one of history’s great dramatists.

‘A Doll’s House’

When: Through Oct. 12

Where: Guthrie Theater, 818 Second St. S., Minneapolis

Tickets: $94-$18, available at 612-377-2224 or guthrietheater.org

Capsule: Invariably excellent performances make this classic compelling.

Rob Hubbard can be reached at wordhub@yahoo.com.

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The third week of September might be recalled as when Minnesota United’s promising season slipped through its fingers.

After a heartbreaking home loss to Austin FC in the U.S. Open Cup semifinal on Wednesday, the Loons had a chance against the Chicago Fire on Saturday to move into a first-place tie with San Diego FC atop the Western Conference.

Instead, a depleted MNUFC starting lineup gave up two goals on nearly identical free kicks in the first half and lost 3-0 at Allianz Field.

The Loons didn’t start hungover, but a lull sunk in after falling behind late in the first half and into the second half.

Minnesota appeared to have a lifeline into the game with a goal from Momo Dieng in the 68th minute, but the new striker was ruled offside. Less than two minutes later, Chicago’s Philip Zinkernagel blasted a shot into the back of the net.

In frustration to falling down three goals, Loons defender Julian Gressel punted the ball high into the sky, and it can be compared to the Loons’ season seemingly being kicked away this week.

MNUFC (15-7-9, 54 points) was unbeaten in four straight MLS matches, including a statement win over San Diego last weekend. But instead of contending for the Supporters Shield, Minnesota will need to start looking behind them in the standings.

What a difference a week makes.

Meanwhile, Chicago (13-11-6, 45 points) boosted its position for the final playoff spot in the East.

On the first goal, Loons goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair saved the initial header, but Chicago center back Joel Waterman was alone at the back post to smack it in during the 26th minute.

On the second goal, Chicago defensive midfielder Dje D’Avilla dunked on Morris Duggan to make it 2-0 in the 41st minute.

The Loons rested the four players who put in 120-minute shifts in the 2-1 loss to Austin midweek and had to make due with starting striker Kelvin Yeboah (hamstring) and defender Carlos Harvey (knee) being ruled out for the rest of the regular season on Friday.

Minnesota’s starting attackers — Dominik Fitz, Momo Dieng, Darius Randell — made their first MLS starts. Also, Nector Triantis made his first league start at center back, not his regular defensive midfield spot. It was the first time he played on the back line since August 2024 for Sunderland.

Needing a spark, head coach Eric Ramsay brought in the four out-field players who played every minute Wednesday. Robin Lod, Joaquin Pereyra, Bongi Hlongwane and Michael Boxall subbed in during the 55th minute.

WILLMAR, Minn. — Farmers in southern Minnesota will now have access to more coverage and precise data and weather updates to help them make decisions about irrigating crops or when to add fertilizer and apply pesticides.

Over the past year, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture installed 14 new weather stations on the Minnesota Ag Weather Network, including a dozen across southern Minnesota that previously fell outside the network’s reach, according to a news release from the Ag Department.

The locations of the new stations include Willmar (Kandiyohi County), Murdock (Swift County), Madison (Lac qui Parle County) and Fairfax (Renville County) in west central Minnesota.

The other new station locations are Cologne (Carver County), Eyota (Olmsted County), Geneva (Freeborn County), Godahl (Brown County), Hastings (Dakota County), Kenyon (Goodhue County), Pine Island (Dodge County) and Windom (Jackson County).

These new stations are already collecting data that is publicly available through the North Dakota Agricultural Weather Network, which works in conjunction with Minnesota’s.

Each weather station is solar-powered and transmits data collected over a cellular network about every five minutes, according to the MAWN page on the Minnesota Department of Agriculture website. The stations can monitor weather conditions up to 33 feet in the air and monitor soil conditions as far as 7.5 feet below the surface. Data shared includes precipitation, relative humidity, soil moisture and temperature.

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In addition, the stations help MAWN and NDAWN offer modeling resources for growers such as daily estimated crop water use, runoff risk predictions and disease risk forecasts.

The weather data each station provides to each agricultural area is considered accurate within a 20-mile radius.

The installation of the new weather stations was made possible with $3 million from Minnesota’s Clean Water Fund, allocated for the purpose of expanding the network’s reach. The funds were received by the Department of Agriculture in 2023, according to the news release, and will support the installation of approximately 40 new stations over three years, developed in collaboration with local partners.