Today in History: January 12, Joe Namath, New York Jets win Super Bowl III
Today is Monday, Jan. 12, the 12th day of 2026. There are 353 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On Jan. 12, 1969, the biggest upset in Super Bowl history occurred as the New York Jets of the American Football League defeated the Baltimore Colts of the National Football League 16-7 in Super Bowl III, played at the Orange Bowl in Miami.
Also on this date:
In 1915, the U.S. House of Representatives rejected a proposed constitutional amendment to give women nationwide the right to vote.
In 1932, Hattie W. Caraway of Arkansas became the first woman to win election to the U.S. Senate after initially being appointed to serve out the remainder of the term of her late husband, Thaddeus.
In 1948, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Sipuel v. Board of Regents of University of Oklahoma, unanimously ruled that state law schools could not discriminate against applicants on the basis of race.
In 1959, Berry Gordy Jr. founded Motown Records (originally Tamla Records) in Detroit.
In 1966, “Batman” premiered on ABC, starring Adam West and Burt Ward.
In 2010, Haiti was struck by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake that the Haitian government estimated killed some 300,000 people.
Today’s birthdays:
- Author Haruki Murakami is 77.
- Filmmaker Wayne Wang is 77.
- Football Hall of Famer Drew Pearson is 75.
- Writer Walter Mosley is 74.
- Media personality Howard Stern is 72.
- Filmmaker John Lasseter is 69.
- Broadcast journalist Christiane Amanpour is 68.
- Actor Oliver Platt is 66.
- Basketball Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins is 66.
- Entrepreneur Jeff Bezos is 62.
- Musician-filmmaker Rob Zombie is 61.
- Rock singer Zack de la Rocha (Rage Against the Machine) is 56.
- Rapper Raekwon (Wu Tang Clan) is 56.
- Singer Melanie Chisholm (Spice Girls) is 52.
- Hockey Hall of Famer Marián Hossa is 47.
- Actor Issa Rae is 41.
- Singer Zayn Malik is 33.
- Actor Nathan Gamble is 27.