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 January 3, 1840: Father Damien’s Birthday 

January 3, 1904: The first day of operations for the county known as Maui. (The next day, a formal inauguration ceremony is held simultaneously in all four new Hawaii counties.)  To say that island life was slow back then would be an understatement: For example, the first fire brigade - in Wailuku - wasn’t formed until 20 years later, July 1, 1924.

In 1905, the five-member council passed an act that established five districts for policing: Lahaina and Lanai, Wailuku and Kahoolawe, Hana, Makawao and Molokai. Each district had a sheriff. A formal police department wasn’t needed until 1939.

But recorded history for this period is sketchy. If any reader out there can find the name of the first mayor, we’ll give him or her international exposure right here on this site.

HISTORICAL EVENTS ON THIS DAY – January 3rd

• 1825: Scottish factory owner Robert Owen buys 30,000 acres in Indiana as the site for the New Harmony utopian community 
• 1831: The first U.S. building & loan association organized, Frankford, PA
• 1833: Britain seizes control of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic 
• 1870: Construction on the Brooklyn Bridge begins (completed on May 24, 1883) 
• 1876: The first free kindergarten opens in the U.S. (Florence, MA) 
• 1929: 27-year old William S Paley becomes CBS president 
• 1967: Carl Wilson of The Beachboys is indicted for draft evasion 
• 1969: John Lennon’s “2 Virgins” album is declared pornographic in New Jersey 
• 1977: Steven Jobs and Steve Wozniak found the Apple Computer
• 2000: The last new daily “Peanuts” comic strip by Charles Schulz is published

BORN ON THIS DAY – January 3rd

•  106: (BC) Marcus Tullius Cicero, Rome, statesman/author
• 1543: Juan Cabrillo, discoverer of California
• 1793: Lucretia Coffin Mott, U.S. teacher/minister/abolitionist/feminist
• 1840: Fr. Joseph Damien de Veuster, Molokai leper priest
• 1883: Clement Richard Attlee, British PM 
• 1892: J.R.R. Tolkien, writer
• 1905: Ray Milland, actor
• 1930: Robert Loggia,  actor
• 1932: Dabney Coleman, actor
• 1941: Van Dyke Parks,  actor/musician
• 1945: Stephen Stills, singer/songwriter/guitarist 
• 1945: Victoria Principal, actress 
• 1946: John Paul Jones, rock musician 
• 1956: Mel Gibson, actor
• 1975: Jason Marsden, actor
• 1975: Danica McKellar, actress
• 1976:  Nicholas Gonzalez, actor
• 1978: Kimberley Lockes, singer
• 1981: Eli Manning, NFL QB