Sea-ing is believing: Believe it, dear readers – the weekend is almost here!
Yes, it’s Friday on Long Island and around the world, and that isn’t just any well-earned weekend on the horizon – it’s the first one, ever, on an Earth with five distinct oceans. (For the record, Long Island still edges the Atlantic.)
King sized: Colorful celebrations mark is King Kamehameha Day across the Hawaiian Islands.
Lei man’s language: It’s June 11 out there, and to our many readers in the Pacific Ocean’s great State of Hawaii, noho me ka hau’oli – today is King Kamehameha Day, honoring the legendary warrior/diplomat who united the Hawaiian Islands into one royal kingdom.
Otherwise, it’s a great day for foodies across our largely landlocked nation – June 11 is both National Corn on the Cob Day and National German Chocolate Cake Day.
Now we’re cooking: Actually, it was more about heating your space than heating your food – but either way, Founding Father Benjamin Franklin invented his eponymous Franklin stove on this date in 1742.
First draft: Speaking of the Prophet of Tolerance, Franklin was one of five committee members – along with Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Roger Sherman and Robert Livingston – selected by the Continental Congress on June 11, 1776, to draft the document that would become the Declaration of Independence.
Floating an idea: The world’s first rocket-powered aircraft, a retrofitted Ente glider, slings toward history.
Duck, duck, boost: The world’s first rocket-propelled aircraft – a retrofitted Ente glider, German for “duck” – soared over the Rhön Mountains on June 11, 1928.
With his twin rockets firing in sequence, daring test pilot Fritz Stamer flew the glider around a roughly 1-mile-diameter circle and landed just as the second rocket flamed out.
Let’s be frank: Marking the first-ever visit by a sitting British monarch to the home of an American president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt welcomed King George VI and “Queen Mum” Elizabeth I on this date in 1939, and served them hot dogs and beer.
Patents in spaaaaace: A “space satellite comprising an air-tight compartment,” heat shields and more – the world would know it as the Mercury space capsule – was patented on June 11, 1963, by a team of NASA scientists.
And all-time pioneers like Henry Ford and Walter Chrysler may be iconic, but it was intrepid Massachusetts inventor Charles Duryea who patented the first gasoline-powered automobile 125 years ago today.
The undersea world: French naval officer, explorer, scientist, filmmaker, innovator, photographer and author Jacques-Yves Cousteau (1910-1997) – who mainstreamed scuba-diving (with the Aqua-Lung), marine conservation and red-wool caps – would be 111 years old today.
Give him a hand: Dinklage, larger than life.
Also born on this date were German chemist, engineer and innovator Carl von Linde (1842-1934), who invented mechanical refrigeration; American marine zoologist Mary Rathbun (1860-1943), who skipped college but nonetheless defined crustaceans; Montana Republican Jeanette Rankin (1880-1973), the first woman elected to the U.S. Congress; legendary American football coach Vince Lombardi (1913-1970), namesake of today’s NFL championship trophy; and small-in-stature, huge-in-talent American actor Peter Dinklage (born 1969), a four-time Emmy-winner.
Escape from Öz: And take a bow, Mehmet Öz! The controversial Turkish-American media personality, cardiothoracic surgeon, Columbia University professor, Trump advisor and bestselling author – a Fox News darling whose promotion of pseudoscience has been roundly rebuked by conventional scientists – turns 61 today.
You may or may not want to follow his advice, but you can still wish the celebrity doctor a happy birthday at editor@innovateli.com, where our scientific method starts with your news tips and calendar events.
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BUT FIRST, THIS
Wind powers: Nine American governors, including New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, are imploring the White House to step up support for the nation’s burgeoning offshore-wind industry – including development of a long-term U.S. wind-power plan.
A June 4 letter signed by Cuomo and the chief executives of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland, Rhode Island and Virginia notes “an unprecedented opportunity for the United States to capture significant economic-development activity and build equity in coastal communities while improving air quality and increasing the options for energy diversity.” Pledging interstate cooperation, the governors reference critical statistics (wind-energy production costs have dropped by more than 50 percent in the last five years, for instance) and urge President Joe Biden to “build on the significant momentum your administration has created.”
Among the key recommendations: quantifiable long-term targets set by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, new federal programs to ensure adequate transmission capacity and ancillary support for marine industries affected by the creation of new offshore-wind farms. “We hope to utilize our joint resources to maximize the economic potential of the offshore wind industry for our country,” the governors wrote. “We hope the White House considers and adopts these strategies as a priority.”
Christine Riordan: Opening doors.
Lions at the gate: The region’s mix-and-match joint-admissions derby continues, with Nassau Community College and Adelphi University announcing a new “gateway” billed as a Long Island first.
Beginning with the Fall 2021 semester, enrolled NCC students can earn their associate’s degrees as part of the Adelphi campus community – eligible not only to participate in university activities, but to live and dine on campus alongside matriculated Adelphi students. The NCC students will also enjoy “easy access to streamlined transfer pathways for completing their bachelor’s degrees,” according to an Adelphi University statement.
Dubbed the Nassau-Adelphi Gateway, the collaboration marks the latest in a string of joint-admission deals among Long Island schools and offers a best-of-both-worlds scenario for cost-conscious community college students desiring a campus-living experience, according to Adelphi University President Christine Riordan. “As part of our vibrant Adelphi community from the start of their academic journey at Nassau Community College, students will seamlessly have access to a four-year experience in a way that works best for them,” Riordan said this week.
TOP OF THE SITE
Justice league: Adelphi University School of Social Work students have completed a comprehensive series of multimedia projects focused on racial disparities and social justice.
Classy action: Lawmakers are too willing to pass the buck on critical data-privacy issues, according to the Lawsuit Reform Alliance of New York, which wants trial lawyers removed from the equation.
Happily Eversource after: Our hit podcast series Spark continues with Eversource Energy Vice President Kenneth Bowes, who discusses the offshore winds of change blowing over Long Island and the nation.
ICYMI
Tax breaks do the job in Nassau; Aceto Corp. makes a move in Oregon.
BEST OF THE WEST (AND SOMETIMES NORTH/SOUTH)
Innovate LI’s inbox overrunneth with inspirational innovations from all North American corners. This week’s brightest out-of-towners:
From Montana: Missoula-based cybersecurity consultant LMG Security expands menu of on-demand IT training courses.
From California: San Jose-based fine-art technologist MORF Gallery partners with London-based AI startup Oxia Palus to solve a mystery hidden in a century-old portrait.
From South Carolina: Greenville-based site-selection expert Global Location Strategies introduces digital app for screening and scoring commercial spaces.
ON THE MOVE
Justin Fincher
+ Justin Fincher has been appointed vice president for advancement at Stony Brook University and executive director of the Stony Brook University Foundation. He previously served as vice president for advancement at The Ohio State University.
+ Hauppauge-based King Kullen Grocery Co. has announced the promotion of three executives:
- Tracey Cullen has been elected vice president of corporate strategy and initiatives. The Board of Directors member previously served as vice president of marketing.
- Michael Infantolino has been elected president of Wild by Nature, an independent King Kullen subsidiary. He previously served as the subsidiary’s vice president.
- Albert Hesse has been elected vice president of King Kullen Pharmacies Corp. He most recently served as King Kullen’s director of pharmacy.
+ Suffolk County Leg. Tom Cilmi has been named a senior executive consultant at Melville-based McBride Consulting. He is scheduled to join the firm when his legislative term ends in December.
+ Garden City-based Moritt Hock & Hamroff has announced the addition of two associates: Jennifer Cunningham will concentrate her practice on estate planning and trust and estate administration; Ronald Perry will concentrate his practice on complex trusts and estates, elder law and succession planning.
+ Shari Miller has been named dean of the Stony Brook University School of Social Welfare, effective Aug. 1. She is currently associate dean of the University of Georgia School of Social Work.
BELOW THE FOLD
Green backing: What’s the best way to finance clean-energy projects? Ask Europe.
Bank shot: The best plan for clean-energy financing is already getting it done in other countries.
Keep on doomscrolling: New terminology invented during the pandemic that’s likely to stick around.
Don’t leave home without it: Eliminating the daily commute we used to hate may actually destroy our lives.
Tech talk: Academics meet the real world at the New York Institute of Technology, where students benefit from hands-on experience with the tools of tomorrow. Check them out.
