Just our type: Welcome to Wednesday, dear readers, as we sweat out the first workweek of the Summer of 2021.
Before we begin, although this e-newsletter was obviously written on a computer, we’d be remiss if we didn’t raise a keyboard to National Typewriter Day, saluting the writing machine that literally changed everything.
Hot pink: Today is a real lawner.
It’s like red, but not quite: It’s June 23 out there, a colorful day indeed – both National Pink Day and, if that’s not specific enough for you, National Pink Flamingo Day (celebrating the lawn ornament, not the actual bird) brighten this date.
Less colorful, but much tastier, is National Pecan Sandy Day, fresh from the oven every June 23.
Up, up and away: Speaking of hot air, with a 13-year-old volunteer standing in for inventor Peter Carnes (who was too heavy), the first successful U.S. balloon flight soared over the City of Baltimore on June 23, 1784.
Legendary wake-up call: American readers met all-time snoozer “Rip Van Winkle” and heard “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” for the first time 202 years ago today, when the Washington Irving classics were published in his collection “The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.”
Around the world in eight days: The first successful aerial global circumnavigation not involving a blimp took off from Long Island on this date in 1931.
American pilot Wiley Post and Australian navigator Harold Gatty would land the famous monoplane Winnie Mae in Newfoundland, England, Germany (three stops), Russia (five stops), Alaska (two stops), Canada and Ohio before returning to Roosevelt Field in a then-record time of 8 days, 15 hours and 51 minutes.
Fresh spin: The (modern) hula hoop was patented 57 years ago today.
Senior circuit: Nobel Prize-winning American electrical engineer Jack Kilby, who invented the handheld calculator and earned 60 patents total, patented the integrated circuit on June 23, 1964.
Meanwhile, the toy known as a the “hula hoop” has many origin stories (some dating back to the 14th Century), but Wham-O toy company co-founder Arthur Melin earned a U.S. patent for the modern hula hoop (made of plastic) on that very same day – June 23, 1964. (With apologies to “The Hudsucker Proxy.”)
Smooth operator: And on the subject of cool patents, American inventor Frank Zamboni locked up his eponymous ice rink re-surfacer on this date in 1953.
Turing de force: English mathematician and logician Alan Mathison Turing (1912-1954) – a pioneer in the fields of computer theory, cognitive science and artificial intelligence and namesake of the Association for Computing Machinery’s A.M. Turing Award, considered the “Nobel Prize of computing” – would be 109 years old today.
He be the judge: In 1991, Clarence Thomas became the second African American to sit on the Supreme Court of the United States.
Also born on June 23 were French industrialist Édouard Michelin (1859-1940), co-founder (with his brother André) of the Michelin Tyre Co.; Egyptian suffragette and nationalist Huda Sha’arawi (1879-1947), founder of the Egyptian Feminist Union; American biologist, zoologist and anthropologist Alfred Kinsey (1894-1956), a real sex machine; English astrophysicist Sir Martin Rees (born 1942), Britain’s 15th Astronomer Royal; and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Clarence Thomas (born 1948).
Cerf’s up: And take a bow, Vinton Gray Cerf! The American computer scientist and winner of the aforementioned Turing Award – recognized as one of the fathers of the Internet, alongside TCP/IP co-developer Robert Kahn – turns 78 today.
Wish the Internet pioneer well at editor@innovateli.com, where your story tips and calendar events always compute.
About our sponsor: The Long Island Business Development Council has helped build the regional economy for 52 years by bringing together government economic–development officials, developers, financial experts and others for education, debate and networking.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Disasters are their business: Nassau County Executive Laura Curran (center) is proud of the county’s emergency responders.
Ready for the worst: The Nassau County Office of Emergency Management has been accredited by New York’s Local Emergency Management Accreditation Program – one of only 12 statewide programs stamped by the first-in-the-nation state program.
Launched three years ago, the LEMA program – administered by the New York State Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Services – champions a series of stringent standards and best practices promoting a coordinated emergency-management approach. Officials must also engage community stakeholders and other private partners to earn accreditation, a feat so far achieved by only 11 counties (including Nassau) and New York City.
Nassau’s accreditation required a comprehensive plan and “reflects the tireless efforts and dedication of the vigilant men and women who staff the Nassau County Office of Emergency Management around the clock,” according to County Executive Laura Curran. “Throughout every disaster, OEM has been a vital, life-saving resource for our residents and businesses.”
Center stage: Marking the first construction effort on its Patchogue campus in nearly two decades, St. Joseph’s College broke ground Monday on its new $17 million Student Center.
First announced in December and financed completely through bond issues, the two-story, 32,000-square-foot center will feature a dining area, an art gallery, a chapel, a “veterans lounge,” an “e-sports unit” and other indoor and outdoor spaces for faculty, staff and student organizations. The first new campus construction since 2003 will “serve the institution’s growing student population,” according to St. Joe’s, with construction slated to run through 2023.
A multitude of regional rainmakers – including Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, Patchogue Mayor Paul Pontieri and other Long Island lawmakers – joined St. Joseph’s College President Donald Boomgaarden for Monday’s ceremonial groundbreaking. “This building is a door through which we can walk into new relationships with our neighbors and with each other,” Boomgaarden noted. “This building will not just contain classrooms, but it will contain spaces and technology that will serve to connect our students to each other and to the outside world.”
POD PEOPLE
Cohen: Familiar face.
New Long Island Association President Matthew Cohen isn’t new to the LIA at all – or to the long list of socioeconomic challenges he plans to address as the 95-year-old business and networking association’s freshly minted head honcho. Episode 10 of Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast gets down to business!
TOP OF THE SITE
Emergency action: With tens of millions in FEMA dollars and a rich long-term vision, Mount Sinai South Nassau has started work on a cutting-edge $130 million Emergency Department.
Positive energy: Stony Brook University’s latest Advanced Energy Conference wasn’t what organizers had originally hoped for – but it turned out to be the perfect virtual conference for our time.
You get it: But does the rest of your innovation team get it? They should – subscriptions to this engaging thrice-weekly newsletter are always easy, always free.
VOICES
Before Xbox and PlayStation – even before Pac-Man and Donkey Kong – there was Long Island, leading the charge into the Videogame Era. And techno-historian Tom Mariner was in the thick of it, elbow-deep in the creation of the first home-gaming consoles.
STUFF WE’RE READING
Rise and shine: Depression risk may be lower for morning people than night owls. The New York Times gets an early start.
Ride and shine: That daily commute has a positive effect on innovation. Forbes trains its thought.
Rice and shine: Whole grains, fatty fish and coffee – yes, coffee – are among the best foods to feed your brain. LiveStrong.com eats it up.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ Qwoted, a New York City-based platform connecting journalists with brands, small businesses and industry experts, raised $3 million in seed funding led by Third Prime, with participation from Gaingels, Prosek Venture Partners, Vested, Caleb Silver, David Siegel, Tom Rovak and a consortium of communications firms.
+ PanTher Therapeutics, a Massachusetts-based med-tech advancing treatments for solid tumors, raised $5.4 million in Series A funding led by Catalyst Health Ventures, with participation from Angel Physicians Fund and other notable investors.
+ Dusty Robotics, a California-based developer of robot-powered construction tools, closed a $16.5 million Series A funding round led by Canaan Partners, with participation from NextGen Venture Partners, Baseline Ventures, Root Ventures and Cantos Ventures.
+ Triax Technologies, a Connecticut-based IoT solutions provider connecting construction, energy, manufacturing and industrial worksites, raised $12.5 million in Series A funding led by McRock Capital, with participation from Connecticut Innovations and existing shareholders.
+ EnMass Energy, a North Carolina-based technology company providing a digital procurement and operations platform for global waste-to-energy supply chains, raised $2.15 million in funding led by Blue Bear Capital, with participation from Looking Glass Capital and Climate Cloud.
+ Novo, a NYC-based small-business banking platform, raised $40.7 million in Series A funding led by Valar Ventures, with participation from Crosslink Capital, Rainfall Ventures, Red Sea Ventures and BoxGroup.
BELOW THE FOLD
How would you like that cooked: Cicadas and other insects are considered a delicacy around the world.
Hack horrors: Exploring the sinister side of productivity hacks.
Critter crunch: As Brood X arrives, cicadas are on the menu.
Pop primer: Reviewing the defining pop-culture moments of the 21st century.
Clever council: Please continue supporting the amazing organizations that support Innovate Long Island, including the Long Island Business Development Council, which has proven to be smarter than your average networking group over the last five decades. Check them out.
