Today is Sunday, Oct. 12, the 285th day of 2025. There are 80 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Oct. 12,1968, Mexican track and field athlete Enriqueta Basilio became the first woman to light the Olympic flame at the opening ceremonies of the Mexico City Summer Games.

Also on this date:

In 1492, Christopher Columbus’s first expedition made landfall on what is now San Salvador Island in the Bahamas.

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In 1870, General Robert E. Lee, former overall commander of the Confederate States Army in the Civil War, died in Lexington, Virginia, at age 63.

In 1960, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev protested remarks at the United Nations by pounding his shoe on his desk.

In 1973, President Richard Nixon nominated House Minority Leader Gerald R. Ford of Michigan to succeed Spiro T. Agnew as vice president.

In 1984, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher escaped an attempt on her life when an Irish Republican Army bomb exploded at a hotel in Brighton, England, killing five people.

In 2000, the destroyer USS Cole was attacked by boat-borne al-Qaida suicide bombers during a refueling stop in Yemen’s port city of Aden, killing 17 on board.

In 2002, bombs blamed on al-Qaida-linked militants destroyed two nightclubs on the Indonesian island of Bali, killing 202 people, many of whom were foreign tourists.

In 2019, Eliud Kipchoge became the first person to run a marathon in less than two hours, crossing the finish line of the INEOS 1:59 Challenge in Vienna, Austria, with a time of 1:59:40.

Today’s Birthdays:

NASCAR Hall of Famer Ned Jarrett is 93.
Broadcast journalist Chris Wallace is 78.
Singer-songwriter Jane Siberry is 70.
Actor Hiroyuki Sanada is 65.
Jazz musician Chris Botti (BOH’-tee) is 63.
Actor Hugh Jackman is 57.
Country musician Martie Maguire (The Chicks) is 56.
Actor Kirk Cameron is 55.
Olympic gold medal skier Bode Miller is 48.
Actor Josh Hutcherson is 33.

One of the most unlikely — and utterly delightful — new pop stars filled Target Center to near-capacity Saturday night for the sort of performance rarely seen in the downtown Minneapolis basketball arena.

Icelandic-Chinese singer/songwriter Laufey Lín Bing Jónsdóttir — who goes by her first name as a performer — makes music that sounds plucked straight out of a Technicolor blockbuster from the Golden Age of Hollywood.

To drive home the point, she performed on a castle-like stage, with a string section on one end and a jazz band on the other. Several times, her dancers performed mini ballet sets to let the main attraction change into her next gown or flapper dress. She even opened the show with an overture and old-timey credits rolling on the big screens.

Just 26, she’s already won a best traditional pop vocal album Grammy for her sophomore record, 2023’s “Bewitched.” Saturday night, she revealed a voice every bit as supple and lush as it is on her studio recordings. At times, it felt like she was leaning into her listeners, cooing a sweet secret into their ears.

That all sounds great, of course. Wine-sipping NPR listeners have been long overdue for a new Norah Jones, right?

Here’s the thing, though. Laufey (pronounced “Lay-vay”) built her audience through TikTok. The crowd leaned heavily young and heavily female, much like you’d see at, say, a Benson Boone or Sabrina Carpenter concert. And they let out the sort of lustful, large-lunged screams heard at those shows.

What was most notable, however, was that the screaming stopped every time Laufey began to sing. No one spoke and only used phones as the occasional Bic lighter stand-in. Laufey was just that compelling. It was tough not to fall under her spell.

The set included nearly everything from her third and most recent album, “A Matter of Time,” which she recorded in part in Minneapolis. (She told the crowd that one of her best friends, who was in the crowd, is a native. She also took a trip to the Mall of America and marveled over the experience: “I was smiling ear-to-ear.”)

Not to put too fine of a point on things, but her numbers truly do sound like they were plucked from a bygone era. Beyond the occasional electric guitar, the musicians stuck to acoustic instruments. The only nod to modern music showed up in the lyrics, where Laufey dropped the occasional four-letter word. She has said Taylor Swift is an influence and, lyrically speaking, it’s clear in songs like “Lover Girl” and “Castle in Hollywood.”

Laufey split the show into four acts, the second of which she played on the circular end of her stage accompanied by piano, upright bass and drums. She said she was as surprised as anyone how she can draw so many people and said she wanted to dedicate that part of her show to replicating the intimacy of a jazz club.

It worked, especially when she covered the 1939 classic “Seems Like Old Times,” famously crooned by Diane Keaton in Woody Allen’s “Annie Hall.” Laufey said Keaton was the only reason she knew the song and dedicated it to the actress, who died earlier in the day Saturday. (I must admit, I always thought there was a certain Keaton-esque flavor to her voice.)

It truly felt like a magical evening and it was terrific to see the kids so into it all. Hopefully, this is just the beginning and not the peak of Laufey’s fame.

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The Gophers needed one of its best players to step up in a big moments on homecoming against Purdue on Saturday.

They required Koi Perich to make one of the splash plays that the Esko, Minn., native made almost routine during his all-Big Ten freshman season a year ago.

The sophomore did it with a fourth-quarter interception he returned 27 yards for a touchdown to give the U a 27-20 win on homecoming at Huntington Bank Stadium.

After five picks last season, Perich’s first one of the year was also his first career touchdown. The game-changing play also has slice of redemption for Perich, who had to overcome a muffed punt that loomed large in the 27-14 loss to California on Sept. 13.

The Gophers (4-2, 2-1 Big Ten) battled back to win in front of more than 200 former players, including the special honoring of the 1960 national championship team.

Minnesota tied the game at 2-20 with less than eight minutes to go, with Drake Lindsey connecting with Jameson Geers on a 4-yard touchdown. Lindsey scrambled for a conversion on fourth and two to keep the drive alive.

The Boilermakers (2-4, 0-3) have lost four straight games and, at times, gifted the game to Minnesota with three total interceptions and nine penalties, including two facemask calls on the game-tying drive.

Purdue lost despite having nearly 200 more yards of total offense.

The Purdue pass defense was one of the worst in the country and Lindsey was able to find enough success, completing 21 of 45 passes for 232 yards, two touchdowns and one interceptions.

Purdue’s rushing offense was 110th out of 136 programs in the the nation, but blew past their 115-yard per-game average with 178 in the first half and 253 in the game.

Boilers tailback Devin Mockobee continued to rack up big gains against the Gophers. He put up 5.9 yards per carry in games against Minnesota in 2022 and ’23 and had 4.7 on Saturday.

He finished with 98 yards on 21 carries. Minnesota struggled to run the ball again, with Darius Taylor managing 32 yards on 14 carries.

The Gophers defense struggled to get off the field in conversion situations in the first half and it cost them 14 points.

On fourth and 2 on the opening drive, athletic backup quarterback Malachi Singleton ran a draw and found a huge hole up the middle, broke one arm tackle from Devon Williams and a shoestring tackle from Maverick Baranowski near the goal line for a 40-yard touchdown run.

On third and goal from the 12 just before the half, starting quarterback Ryan Browne eluded a sack from Anthony Smith, broke contain, found the edge and scored by touching the football to the pylon.

The Gophers offense had nothing working until they started calling screen passes to Darius Taylor on a 40-yard completion. Then Drake Lindsey threw a receiver screen to Le’Meke Brockington for a 24-yard touchdown.

Brady Denaburg made two field goals — 46 and 29 yards — to help trim Purdue’s lead to 17-13 at the half.

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There were hype videos and live music and waving towels with flashing lights built in. There were booming ovations and a reunion of franchise legends and a pair of goals by the highest-paid player in NHL history.

The Minnesota Wild’s home opener, as they celebrated the start of their 25th anniversary season, featured just about everything. But a home team victory was notably missing when the final horn blew.

Flying high after a decisive win in the season opener on the road, the Wild instead never held a lead versus an opportunistic Columbus Blue Jackets team. Minnesota out-shot Columbus decisively, and got a quartet of power play goals, but fell 7-4 on Saturday, in what they certainly hope is not a carry-over of their generally mediocre play at home a season ago.

Trailing 2-0 in the second period, top-liners Matt Boldy and Kirill Kaprizov scored for the Wild to forge a tie, only to see the Blue Jackets snatch the lead back and hold on. Rookie defenseman Zeev Buium added a third period power play marker — his first career goal — but again Columbus snuffed out the momentum with a quick answer. Kaprizov’s second goal of the game pulled Minnesota back within two.

They made a push with the goalie pulled, but ultimately fell short after Boone Jenner added a late empty-net goal for the visitors.

Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson was victimized early in the first and third periods, finishing with 25 saves in the loss.

With the fans still buzzing from the pregame introduction of the franchise’s original coaching staff from 25 years ago, the Wild kept them buzzing with three rushes to the net that tested the Columbus goalie. The third of them featured a point-blank shot by Vinnie Hinostroza, and the hard rebound off Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins’ leg pad acted like an outlet pass.

As Minnesota scrambled to backcheck, Zach Ashton-Reese sent a long pass off the end boards next to Gustavsson, where Miles Wood was able to tack down the puck and snap a low shot past the Wild goalie. It was Wood’s first goal with Columbus after coming there in June trade with Colorado.

Minnesota’s offense dominated the opening 20 minutes, which included a brief 5-on-3 power play, but still emerged down by a goal. If there was one area where the Blue Jackets excelled early it was in the faceoff circle, where Columbus won 17 of the 26 draws in the opening period.

Columbus also won the opening faceoff of the second period, and saw Kirill Marchenko blast into the offensive zone and whip a shot past Gustavsson, to double the Blue Jackets lead just seven seconds into the middle frame.

The Wild finally offered some push-back on the scoreboard on a second period power play, when Kirill Kaprizov’s shot was knocked down by the Columbus goalie’s shoulder save, but Boldy swatted in the loose puck, bringing the crowd back to life. Columbus coach Dean Evason challenged the play, but officials ruled it a good goal, and gave the Blue Jackets a two minute delay of game penalty for the unsuccessful challenge.

When Columbus defender Erik Gudbranson chipped a puck over the glass on the penalty kill, the Wild got another 30 seconds of two-man advantage, and Kaprizov tied the game on the power play, off a pass from Boldy.

But Columbus grabbed the momentum, and the lead, back with 72 seconds left in the second period when an errant deflection left Marchenko with a yawning net to hit, and the visitors took a 3-2 lead into the second intermission. They re-established a two goal lead just 71 seconds into the third, when Zach Werenski shot through a crowd from the blue line and found the back of the net. Then Marchenko completed the hat trick with the Blue Jackets on a two-man advantage of their own, sending much of the crowd home disappointed.

It was the Wild’s first regulation loss in the last dozen meetings with Columbus, which is also celebrating 25 years since entering the NHL as an expansion team in 2000.

Merzlikins had 48 saves for the Blue Jackets in their first win of the season.

The Wild get another shot at their first home win of the season on Monday, when they host the Los Angeles Kings in a 7 p.m. game.

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