Today is Thursday, Jan. 15, the 15th day of 2026. There are 350 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Jan. 15, 1919, in Boston, a tank containing an estimated 2.3 million gallons (8.7 million liters) of molasses burst, flooding the city’s North End and killing 21 people in what was later dubbed the “Great Molasses Flood.”

Also on this date:

In 1559, Elizabeth I was crowned queen of England and Ireland in Westminster Abbey.

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In 1929, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta.

In 1943, work was completed on the Pentagon, headquarters of the U.S. Department of War (now Defense).

In 1967, the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League defeated the Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League 35-10 in the first AFL-NFL World Championship Game, known retroactively as Super Bowl I.

In 1991, Sean Lennon’s remake of his father’s “Give Peace A Chance” was released to coincide with the United Nations’ midnight deadline for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait. The lyrics were updated to reflect concerns of the 1990s.

In 1992, more than two dozen European nations formally recognized Croatia and Slovenia as independent nations amid the breakup of Yugoslavia.

In 2001, Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia maintained by volunteer editors, made its debut.

In 2009, US Airways Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger landed an Airbus A320 safely in New York’s Hudson River after striking a flock of birds that disabled both engines shortly after takeoff; all 155 people aboard survived the emergency water landing, which became known as “The Miracle on the Hudson.”

In 2019, extremists stormed a luxury hotel in Kenya’s capital of Nairobi, setting off explosives and gunning down people at cafe tables in an attack claimed by Africa’s deadliest Islamic militant group, al-Shabab. At least 21 people were killed in the attack and 28 others wounded.

In 2022, an undersea volcano erupted in the Pacific island nation of Tonga, shooting millions of tons of water vapor high into the atmosphere. A handful of deaths were blamed on the eruption, and scientists studied the blast afterward seeking to determine whether the water vapor acted as a heat-trapping greenhouse gas.

Today’s birthdays:

Actor Andrea Martin is 79.
Football Hall of Famer Randy White is 73.
Actor-director Mario Van Peebles is 69.
Boxing Hall of Famer Bernard Hopkins is 61.
Actor-director Regina King is 55.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is 49.
Former NFL quarterback Drew Brees is 47.
Rapper-reggaeton artist Pitbull is 45.
Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro is 42.
DJ-music producer Skrillex is 38.
Actor-singer Dove Cameron is 30.
Singer-songwriter Grace VanderWaal is 22.

Winners of seven of its last eight games, including a one-point win over then-No. 21 USC on Sunday, the Gopher women’s basketball team faced its toughest challenge yet Wednesday night.

Chalk it up as another learning experience.

Gophers guard Brylee Glenn battles with a UCLA defender during Minnesota’s loss to the third-ranked Bruins at Williams Arena on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (Brad Rempel / Gophers Athletics)

Minnesota got 16 points from Amaya Battle and 15 from Mara Braun but struggled with consistency in a 76-58 loss to No. 3 UCLA.

Offensively, Minnesota went more than seven minutes without scoring in the opening quarter and missed seven of its first nine third-quarter shots. The Gophers scored zero fast-break points and did not attempt a free throw until the fourth quarter.

On the bright side, the shooting percentage each quarter increased from 28.6% in the opening frame, peaking at 50% over the final 10 minutes.

“We played with a great deal of intensity. I thought our effort was outstanding, but our execution wasn’t as good as it needed to be,” said coach Dawn Plitzuweit, who half-heartedly joked about setting a record for shots rimming out. “… (But) having Amaya and Mara step up and carry more of the scoring load is something that was important for us to see.”

UCLA was the latest top conference opponent the Gophers can use to measure where they are at.

Eight Big 10 teams are ranked in this week’s AP Top 25 — six in the top 15 — and Minnesota, Washington, USC and Oregon received votes. The Gophers (12-5, 3-3 Big Ten) are 1-3 against ranked conference foes, but could easily be 3-1.

No. 7 Maryland scored 10 points in the final minute of double overtime to beat Minnesota 100-99 Dec. 7, and No. 9 Michigan outscored Minnesota by nine points in the fourth quarter of a 70-60 loss Jan. 5.

“We need to learn from every game, whether it’s a win or loss,” Braun said.

“You could play the best team in the conference one day or the worst team in the conference and you’re still going to have a game. Just understanding that you have to come with the same mindset every game, like nobody’s a pushover,” Battle said. “At the end of the season, when you’re in postseason play you already have that toughness, that consistency.”

Kiki Rice tied a career-high with 25 points to lead UCLA and 6-foot-7 center Lauren Betts finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds, but the Bruins scored 11 points below their season average.

Winners of 10 straight, the Bruins shot 60% from the field and made 17 of 19 free throws, numbers the Gophers don’t want to see by an opponent. But they’ll take the 17 turnovers forced, including nine steals, that prevented this from being a blowout.

“The way they are connected, the toughness they play defense with is very impressive,” UCLA coach Cori Close.said. “They gave us everything we could handle.”

Up next for Minnesota is a trip to the Pacific Northwest to play Washington on Sunday and Oregon on Wednesday.

“You have put all the pieces together. Are we capable of doing that?” Plitzuweit asked. “We have to be in order to be one of those (top) teams. That’s another step we have to take.”

MINNEAPOLIS — A federal officer shot a person in the leg in Minneapolis after being attacked with a shovel during an arrest Wednesday, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.

The person cautioned the information was still preliminary, and the investigation was in its early stages. The person could not discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.

The shooting took place about 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers) north of where an immigration agent fatally shot Renee Good in the head on Jan. 7 as she drove away.

MPR News spoke with a woman in the neighborhood where the incident occurred, at the corner of Lyndale Avenue North and 24th Avenue North in Minneapolis.

A large group of federal agents and Minneapolis Police wearing gas masks fired tear gas into a crowd gathered at a north Minneapolis intersection near where Wednesday’s shooting took place.

The city of Minneapolis said on the social media platform X that, “We are aware of reports of a shooting involving federal law enforcement in North Minneapolis. We are working to confirm additional details.”

Here is the full text of Gov. Tim Walz’s speech from Wednesday night.

My fellow Minnesotans,

What’s happening in Minnesota right now defies belief.

News reports simply don’t do justice to the level of chaos and disruption and trauma the federal government is raining down upon our communities.

Two to three thousand armed agents of the federal government have been deployed to Minnesota.

Armed, masked, undertrained ICE agents are going door to door, ordering people to point out where their neighbors of color live.

They’re pulling over people indiscriminately, including U.S. citizens, and demanding to see their papers.

And at grocery stores, at bus stops, even at schools, they’re breaking windows, dragging pregnant women down the street, just plain grabbing Minnesotans and shoving them into unmarked vans, kidnapping innocent people with no warning and no due process.

Let’s be very, very clear: This long ago stopped being a matter of immigration enforcement.

Instead, it is a campaign of organized brutality against the people of Minnesota by our own federal government.

Last week, that campaign claimed the life of Renee Nicole Good.

We’ve all watched the video.

We all have seen what happened.

And yet, instead of conducting an impartial investigation so we can hold accountable the officer responsible for Renee’s death, the Trump administration is devoting the full power of the federal government to finding an excuse to attack the victim and her family.

Just yesterday, six federal prosecutors – including the longtime career prosecutor leading the charge to investigate and eliminate fraud in our state’s programs – quit their jobs rather than go along with this assault on the United States Constitution.

But as bad as it’s been, Donald Trump intends for it to get worse.

This week, he went online to promise that, quote, “the day of retribution and reckoning is coming.”

That is a direct threat against the people of this state, who dared to vote against him three times, and who continue to stand up for freedom with courage and empathy and profound grace.

All across Minnesota, people are stepping up to help neighbors who are being unjustly, and unlawfully, targeted.

They’re distributing care packages and walking kids to school and raising their voices in peaceful protest even though doing so has made many of our fellow Minnesotans targets for violent retribution.

Folks, I know this is scary.

And I know it’s absurd that we all have to be defending law and order, justice, and humanity while also caring for our families and doing our jobs.

So, tonight, let me say, once again, to Donald Trump and Kristi Noem: End this occupation.

You’ve done enough.

Let me say four critical things to the people of Minnesota – four things I need you to hear as you watch the news and look out for your neighbors.

First: Donald Trump wants chaos.

He wants confusion.

And, yes, he wants more violence on our streets.

We cannot give him what he wants.

We can – we must – protest: loudly, urgently, but also peacefully.

Indeed, as hard as we will fight in the courts and at the ballot box, we cannot, and will not, let violence prevail.

You’re angry.

I’m angry.

Angry might not be strong enough of a word.

But we must remain peaceful.

Second: You are not powerless.

You are not helpless.

And you are not alone.

All across Minnesota, people are learning about opportunities not just to resist, but to help people who are in danger.

Thousands upon thousands of Minnesotans are going to be relying on mutual aid in the days and weeks to come, and they need our support.

Tonight, I want to share another way you can help: Witness.

Help us establish a record of exactly what’s happening in our communities.

You have an absolute right to peacefully film ICE agents as they conduct their activities.

So carry your phone with you at all times.

And if you see ICE in your neighborhood, take out that phone and hit record.

Help us create a database of the atrocities against Minnesotans – not just to establish a record for posterity, but to bank evidence for future prosecution.

That’s the third thing I want to tell you tonight: We will not have to live like this forever.

Accountability is coming, at the voting booth and in court.

We will reclaim our communities from Donald Trump.

We will re-establish a sense of safety for our neighbors.

We will bring an end to this moment of chaos and confusion.

We will find a way to move forward – together.

And we will not be alone.

Every day, we are working with business leaders, faith leaders, legal experts, and elected officials from all across the country.

They have seen what Donald Trump is trying to do to our state.

They know their states could be next.

And that brings me to the fourth thing I want to tell you tonight. Minnesota, I’m so proud of the way we’ve risen to meet this unbearable moment.

But I’m not surprised.

Because this – this is who we are.

Minnesotans believe in the rule of law.

And Minnesotans believe in the dignity of all people.

We’re a place where there’s room for everybody, no matter who you are or who you love or where you came from.

A place where we feed our kids, take care of our neighbors, and look out for those in the shadows of life.

We’re an island of decency in a country being driven towards cruelty.

We will remain an island of decency, of justice, of community, of peace.

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And, tonight, I come before you simply to ask: Do not let anyone take that away from us.

Thank you.

Protect each other.

And God bless the people of Minnesota.