From the Department of Horseshoes and Hand Grenades: Welcome to a wicked-cold Wednesday, intrepid innovators, as we follow up the early-week winter storm with a shivering deep freeze.
While Long Island didn’t quite reach the six-inches-plus we predicted early last week, the four-or-so inches recorded along the North Shore through late Tuesday are close enough to earn partial credit for the Innovate Long Island Weather Desk. Either way, the Island saw accumulating snow – as Climate Change proliferates, increasingly rare in these parts.
Always thinking: Kids’ creativity knows no bounds … and some go even further than that.
Kidding around: However much snow you measured – and whatever’s coming Friday, stay tuned – it’s Jan. 17 out there and there’s plenty to do.
Among those getting busy: the youngest innovators in all the land, center stage on National Kid Inventors Day, saluting beyond-their-years pioneers.
We’ll drink to that: A round of virgin coladas for the youngsters – the rest of us can warm our cockles with a concoction of rum, butter, hot cider, sugar and spices (nutmeg and cloves, if done right) – the recipe of choice on National Hot Buttered Rum Day.
And let’s raise a glass to the antiheros who kept America liquidated during the misguided and failed Prohibition experiment – Jan. 17 is also National Bootlegger’s Day, when we toast everyone from Uncle Jesse (from fictitious Hazzard County) to nefarious gangster Al Capone (who’d be 125 years old today, more birthdays below).
What a deal: For a mere $25 million, Denmark’s Virgin Islands proved to be another real estate steal for the United States.
Island hopping: Other virgins in the spotlight today include the Virgin Islands, which became the U.S. Virgin Islands on Jan. 17, 1917, when the United States struck a deal to buy them from Denmark for $25 million in gold. (For the record, the transfer of sovereignty would not be officially completed until March 31.)
Picture perfect: Heralding the rise of photobooths, the first fully automated photo-developing machine was patented on Jan. 17, 1928, by New York City-based inventor Anatol Josepho.
Blow me down! Long before spinach gave him superstrength (at first, it came from rubbing the feathers of his “whiffle hen”), pipe-smoking, squinty eyed seafarer Popeye debuted on this date in 1929 as a guest star in a comic strip starring spinster Olive Oyl, the sailor man’s future love interest.
Expansion plan: On that same day – Jan. 17, 1929 – American astronomer (and future telescope namesake) Edwin Hubble proved the universe is expanding in a paper shared with the National Academy of Sciences.
Tape delay: And it was 40 years ago today when a divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the home videotaping of broadcast television for future viewing did not violate federal copyright laws – resolving several sticky retail-sales questions and greenlighting today’s commonplace recording technologies.
The so-called “Betamax ruling” – in which SCOTUS overturned a U.S. Court of Appeals decision that declared videotaping illegal – was a major win for the Sony Corp. against titanic opponents Universal and Disney.
The Greatest: American professional prizefighter and activist Muhammed Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., 1942-2016) – one of the 20th Century’s most significant cultural figures and, arguably, history’s greatest heavyweight boxer – would be 82 years old today.
Cleans up nice: But master thespian James Earl Jones is known best as the man — at least, the voice — inside a different black suit.
Also born on Jan. 17 were American printer, publisher, scientist, diplomat and philosopher Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), a foremost Founding Father and fairly successful inventor; English preacher and social worker Catherine Booth (1829-1890), the “mother of the Salvation Army”; German biologist August Friedrich Leopold Weismann (1834-1914), who ranks second to Charles Darwin for notable achievements as a 19th Century evolutionary theorist (and it was pretty close); American actress, comedian and producer Betty Marion Ludden (1922-2021), known best as the beloved Betty White; and British hairstylist, businessman and philanthropist Vidal Sassoon (1928-2012), who built an eponymous hair-care empire (in addition to creating the “wedge bob”).
Father figure: And take a bow, James Earl Jones! The distinguished American actor – a versatile star of stage and screen immortalized as the voice of one of cinema’s most iconic villains – turns 93 today.
Wish the Tony, Emmy and Grammy award-winner well at editor@innovateli.com, where you don’t know the power of the dark side … but the strength of your news tips and calendar events is famous throughout the galaxy.
About our sponsor: Whether it’s helping with site selection, cutting through red tape or finding innovative ways to meet specific needs, businesses that settle in the Town of Islip soon learn that we take a proactive approach to seeing them succeed. If your business wants to locate or expand in a stable community with great quality of life, then it’s time you took a closer look at Islip.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Go west, enormous healthcare system: New York State’s largest healthcare provider, which makes its bones largely on Long Island, has opened a state-of-the-art specialized care practice in the heart of Queens.
Northwell Health has cut the ribbon on expansive Northwell Health at Rego Park, a $52 million, 70,000-square-foot facility with operations managed by the Northwell Health Cancer Institute, Northwell Health Labs, Vivo Health Pharmacy, Rego Park Imaging (a Northwell affiliate) and the New Hyde Park-based health system’s STARS rehabilitation network. On board are multispecialty providers expert in oncology, cardiology, pediatrics, internal medicine, weight management, obstetrics/gynecology, neurosurgery, orthopedics, wound care and a host of other frontline healthcare fields.
Committed to providing the best possible services to localized patient populations, Northwell has staffed the new clinic – billed as the borough’s “largest outpatient cancer center” – with providers who speak Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Hindi and other languages brewing in the regional melting pot. “Northwell has long been dedicated to serving the diverse population in Queens,” noted Northwell Health President and CEO Michael Dowling. “Now we’re proud to extend Northwell’s world-class cancer care to this vibrant multicultural community, because cancer spares no ethnic group.”
Sock it to ’em: John (left) and Mark Cronin introduce the annual Autism Can Do Scholarship contest.
Can-do attitude: With three education awards afoot, a Melville-based sock-maker with a heart of gold is sticking its toes into its yearly scholarship competition.
Melville-based John’s Crazy Socks is accepting applications through March 15 (a simple form, brief personal statement and original sock design, no graphic-arts skills required) for its sixth-annual Autism Can Do Scholarship program, offering three total prizes ($5,000, $2,500 and $1,000) to high school graduates or current seniors eager to pursue additional education, including collegiate studies. Co-sponsored by the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism and empathy-driven global talent firm Rangam, the contest is open to U.S. residents diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, a neurological/developmental disorder that affects how people communicate, learn and behave.
The annual contest is par-for-the-course for Mark and John Cronin’s heartfelt footwear firm, which has leveraged John’s Down syndrome into a successful business offering thousands of sock choices and a progressive social message: Most employees have a differing ability, and a percentage of all revenues is donated annually to the Special Olympics. “I’m so excited for Autism Can Do Scholarship!” John notes in a promotional video. “Thank you very much!”
TOP OF THE SITE
Clean living: Already a green-energy and carbon-cutting champion, Farmingdale State College has added two new electric vehicles to its low-emission campus fleet.
Previously, on “Spark”: Season 5 of “Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast” drops soon … catch up first on Seasons 1-4, filled with informative and entertaining one-on-ones with the clever and creative leaders of the regional innovation economy. The story so far.
VOICES
Voices Historian and Long Island Bio Executive Director Tom Mariner travels through time with Stony Brook University’s Long Island High Technology Incubator, now three decades into its ongoing support mission for biotech startups and other early-stage tech enterprises.
STUFF WE’RE READING
You heard it here first: How Twitter’s “breaking news” broke Twitter (and the news). The Verge covers the story.
You heard it here second: Plagiarism is the messy new weapon in the raging culture wars. Vox flexes its originality.
You’ve heard enough: As free speech is twisted by demagogues, can you be “too open-minded?” The Conversation decries crackpots.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ Neocis, a Florida-based robotics manufacturer focused on dental-implant surgeries, raised $20 million in funding. Backers included Mirae Asset Capital/Mirae Asset Venture Investment and NVentures.
+ WTHN, a New York City-based acupuncture provider, raised $5 million in Series A financing led by L Catterton, Halogen Ventures and angel investors.
+ Rune Labs, a California-based software specialist focused on precision neurology, raised $12 million in a strategic funding led by Nexus NeuroTech Ventures, Eclipse, DigiTx Partners, Moment Ventures and TruVenturo GmbH.
+ Korr, a NYC-based insurance-technology pioneer, closed a $3.2 million seed round led by Motive Ventures and Tokio Marine Future Fund.
+ GolfForever, a Colorado-based at-home golf-training system, raised $10 million in Series A funding led by Clerisy, Scottie Scheffler and Tom Kim.
+ 120Water, an Indiana-based cloud-based water-management and testing system, received a $43 million growth investment led by Edison Partners and Allos Ventures.
Like this newsletter? Innovate Long Island newsletter, website and podcast sponsorships are a prime opportunity to reach the inventors, investors, entrepreneurs and executives you need to know (just ask the Town of Islip). Marlene McDonnell can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (Morning, Noon and Night Edition)
High time: Come on, get happy … it’s afternoon tea!
Morning glory: First-thing routines to ensure a productive day.
Afternoon tea: How a pandemic holdover became the new “happy hour.”
Night lights: Maximizing overnight EV charging in multi-unit housing developments.
Around the clock: Please continue supporting the amazing agencies that support Innovate Long Island, including the Town of Islip Office of Economic Development, where it’s always a good time to help your business succeed. Check them out.
