What’s the rush? Welcome to Wednesday, dear readers, and not just any Wednesday but already the last Wednesday of August – proof positive that the Sun is setting on the Summer of 2026.
Yes, collegians are on campus, schoolkids are filling with dread and Fall is on final approach. But before we start raking leaves and ordering pumpkin-spice everything, we’ve got a wee bit more Summer to squeeze out – and, of course, this busy workweek to plow through, with this snazzy midweek innovation review to help you over the hump.
Very cherry: Pop to it, before it melts!
Equal time: Today is Aug. 26 and we’re standing up first for Women’s Equality Day, an annual commemoration of the passage of the 19th Amendment, which gave U.S. women the Constitutional right to vote – a big step toward domestic gender equality, but hardly the end of the struggle in the U.S. and beyond.
Where would we be without them? It’s also a big day for certain happy-life indispensables, including National Webmistress Day (saluting the rise of women in the traditionally male-dominated roles that keep the Internet chugging along), National Dog Day (a little heavy petting for man’s, and woman’s, best friend) and National Toilet Paper Day (as gender-neutral as it gets).
And absolutely sweetening the deal is National Cherry Popsicle Day, the red-tongued delight that’s fresh from the freezer every Aug. 26.
Cannon fodder: Not quite as sweet are military cannons, which became a thing on this date in 1346 (maybe) when Mamluk soldiers fighting for England in the Hundred Years War opened fire (possibly) on Genoese mercenaries fighting for France (or so the story goes).
Key moment: More rat-a-tatting than boom-booming is the modern typewriter, which was patented on Aug. 26, 1843, by Massachusetts-based inventor Charles Thurber.
Early education: Speaking of the start of the school year, the St. Louis School Board authorized the first U.S. public kindergarten on this date 1873, following the advice of Susan Blow, a well-heeled Yankee traveler who observed primary schools in Germany and became America’s “Mother of the Kindergarten.”
Safe at home: Baseball on the radio was already a thing, but on this date in 1939, for the first time, fans could see their teams in action from the comfort of home.
Made for TV: Also off to a strong start was televised baseball, which entered the zeitgeist 87 years ago today on WNBC-TV – which was technically still station W2XBS when it broadcasted a Cincinnati Reds/Brooklyn Dodgers tilt live from Ebbets Field.
Whopper of a deal: And it was Aug. 26, 2014, when Miami-based Burger King Worldwide Inc. announced it was buying Canadian donut chain Tim Hortons Inc. in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $11.53 billion, creating the world’s third-largest fast-food restaurant group.
Flash forward a dozen years, and Restaurant Brands International – which owns Burger King, Tim Hortons and Popeyes, among other brands – ranks as the world’s fourth-most-valuable restaurant group ($34.3 billion market cap), trailing McDonald’s Corp. ($195.1 billion), Chipotle Mexican Grill ($45.2 billion) and Yum! Brands ($45.1 billion, on the backs of Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, KFC and other brands you know).
Nun better: Albanian Indian Roman Catholic nun, educator and missionary Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu (1910-1997) – who heard God’s call at age 12 and went on to become Sainty Teresa of Calcutta, a.k.a. Mother Teresa – would be 112 years old today.
Let’s talk about sax: Award-winner Marsalis also led the band on “The Tonight Show” for three years.
Also born on Aug. 26 were French chemist Antoine Lavoisier (1743-1794), who co-created the modern system for naming chemical substances and lives on as the “Father of Modern Chemistry”; American journalist, editor and executive Ben Bradlee (1921-2014), the no-holds-barred newsman who set the exacting standards that once defined the Washington Post; American politician Geraldine Ferraro (1935-2011), the New York congresswoman who was the first woman to run for Vice President on a major party ticket; American puzzle master Will Shortz (born 1952), the New York Times crossword-puzzle editor and, arguably, history’s greatest cruciverbalist*; and American saxophonist, composer and jazz-ensemble maestro Branford Marsalis (born 1960), a three-time Grammy Award-winner and 19-time nominee.
Going it “Alone”: And take a bow, Macauley Culkin! The American actor and singer –who has an idea for a “Home Alone” reboot that’s actually pretty clever – turns 46 today.
Send birthday wishes for the all-time child star to editor@innovateli.com, where we won’t smash you in the face with a paint can, blowtorch your scalp or invite Donald Trump to make a cameo … but we do love story tips and calendar events.
*A cruciverbalist is a person who creates or solves crossword puzzles, for those keeping score.
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BUT FIRST, THIS
Vote of confidence: A leading Long Island human-services provider has partnered with the Suffolk County Board of Elections and other fair-vote advocates to ensure adults with developmental disabilities have a chance to cast ballots in local, state and national elections.
More than 50 participants in the Adult Day Habilitation programs at Smithtown-based Brightway Living & Learning (formerly the Developmental Disabilities Institute) met recently with Suffolk Board of Elections representatives for hands-on training on the county’s new state-of-the-art touchscreen voting machines. The Brightway clients were able to practice on the machines, ask questions and otherwise prepare to have their say in upcoming elections – and, if necessary, were registered to vote by an on-hand representative of the nonpartisan, nonprofit League of Women Voters.
The event was aimed at giving participants “the tools and support they need to cast their ballot with confidence,” according to Brightway Living & Learning CEO Kim Kubasek. “Every person deserves the opportunity to participate fully in our democratic system,” Kubasek noted. “This collaboration is an important step toward empowering people with autism and other developmental disabilities to exercise their right to vote and have their voices heard.”
Mirror universe: Brookhaven National Laboratory scientist Justine Haupt reflects on the future in the Quantum Lighthouse.
To the Lighthouse: Two Long Island R&D cornerstones have achieved an information-transmission milestone that could reshape the future of quantum networking.
Researchers at Stony Brook University and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Upton-based Brookhaven National Laboratory have successfully transmitted light particles containing quantum information between the two institutions through open air – the first U.S. demonstration of its kind and a key step toward extending the nation’s longest quantum network beyond the limits of fiber-optic cables. The Aug. 21 experiment generated quantum states of light using a laser housed in SBU’s state-of-the-art Quantum Watchtower and beamed them roughly 13 miles to a receiver in BNL’s Quantum Lighthouse.
By establishing a free-space optical link and transmitting photons between tiny fiber-optic cables (each a fraction of a millimeter in diameter), researchers showcased the extraordinary precision of quantum networking – and set the stage for future experiments involving quantum-entangled photons. “Brookhaven has long been at the forefront of quantum-information science, and this achievement represents another important step in that journey,” noted Brookhaven National Laboratory Director John Hill. “This free-space link is a key milestone in its own right, but it is also part of a much larger roadmap leading to distributed quantum systems.”
TOP OF THE SITE
Her art’s in the right place: An autistic artist with a nonverbal daughter has leveraged her love of visual arts – and fierce maternal instincts – to create new learning opportunities for people on the autism spectrum.
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VOICES
Spadefoot Ecosystem Solutions Co-founder and Voices Environmental Sciences Anchor Frank Piccininni follows a dangerous “ripple effect” from risky landscaping choices to the proliferation of invasive flora and fauna species – endangering not only natural environments, but the health of Long Island residents.
STUFF WE’RE READING
Bullish: Big, bold and groundbreaking – behold, America’s most innovative large companies. Forbes celebrates.
Peckish: Lifestyle relevance – nutrition, affordability and more – is driving snack-food innovation. Food Navigator nibbles.
Highish: With plenty of patents and a strong “VC deal value,” New York ranks among the nation’s most innovative states. Smart Asset calculates.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ Dirac Labs, a Wisconsin-based provider of quantum-enabled navigation systems, raised $1.8 million in Pre-Seed funding led by TitletownTech, with participation from Automotive Ventures, Riceberg Ventures, quantumEDGE Ventures, Jude Gomila and Balaji Srinivasan.
+ Mafix, a Washington State-based manufacturer of carbon-negative silicon fertilizers and mineral products, raised $5.4 million in Pre-Seed funding led by Azolla Ventures, with participation from Counteract VC, Astera Institute, Plug and Play Ventures, Impact Science Ventures and an unnamed Dutch family office.
+ idler, a California-based frontier-data research lab, raised $9 million in Seed funding led by Paradigm, with participation from Y Combinator, Long Journey, Manish Chandra, Catheryn Li, Dan Posch, Janine Leger, Lynett Capital, Feross Aboukhadijeh, Nur Bazylbekov and Smaiyl Makyshov.
+ Quintessent, a California-based pioneer of AI datacenter optical-interconnect products, raised $40 million in Series A funding led by Cycle Capital, with participation from Goldman Sachs XIG-Industry Ventures, Hina Liberty Capital, Susquehanna International Group, InterVest, Safar Partners, Ciena, Foothill Ventures, M Ventures, Osage University Partners and Sierra Ventures.
+ Cityblock Health, a New York City-based, technology-driven healthcare-provider platform, raised $116 million in Series E funding led by General Catalyst.
+ Starcloud, a Washington State-based manufacturer of orbital data centers and space-based GPU infrastructure, raised $250 million in Series A extension funding led by Manhattan West, with participation from Benchmark, EQT, Soma, NFX, 776, NVIDIA, Cisco Investments, Cedar Capital, Goanna Capital and Standard Capital.
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BELOW THE FOLD (Trade War Edition)
You wanna fight, eh?: Unlike the American Republican Party, Canadian PM Mark Carney is standing up to Donald Trump.
Dissension in the ranks: GOP allies rebel against President Trump’s latest trade war.
Battle plan: Canada stood up to U.S. economic bullying – will the EU do the same?
Oopsie: Trump insists foreign entities pay for tariffs – so why is he reducing tariffs to lower consumer prices?
Make love, not war: Please continue supporting the brilliant businesses that support Innovate Long Island, including Drake Media Studios, where they love to tell stories – and strengthening your economic position is always the primary mission. Check them out.
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