Holiday rush: Better get cracking, intrepid innovators! The first workweek of December is wrapping up, leaving only 20 more days until Christmas – 19 shopping days, if you want to get technical about it.
We therefore imagine your well-earned weekend will be busy, so let’s get you to it – as soon as we power through this workday Friday, starting with this action-packed week-in-innovation review.
No charge to you, Mr. Torrance: Whichever bartender you salute today, we hope he’s less creepy than Lloyd.
Old St. Nick: If there are 20 days left until Christmas, that makes today Dec. 5 – St. Nicholas Eve, of course, preceding St. Nicholas Day, the Christian feast celebrating Fourth Century Bishop Nicholas of Myra, the patron saint of children and gift-giving and a notably jolly fellow to boot.
While we’re celebrating folks, give it up for your favorite mixologist – it’s Bartender Appreciation Day, a first-Friday-of-December salute to the men and women who mix our libations, pull our taps, smile at our lame dad jokes, fend off our drunken come-ons, flag us when necessary, listen to our teary, last-call sob stories … wait, where was this going?
Rub-a-dub-dub: Depending on how the bartender receives those flirtations, you could have a spectacular National Bathtub Party Day, which is ostensibly focused on warm soaks, Epsom salts and scented candles for one (but doesn’t explicitly rule out company).
Whether you marinate alone or bathe with a friend, you’ll likely want to slip into something comfortable afterwards – making National Blue Jeans Day, a Dec. 5 homage to the cozy cornerstone of Western fashion, a natural fit.
Bidding war: There were no blue jeans in the lot (master innovator Levi Strauss wouldn’t patent his riveted denim workpants for another century), but there were other interesting items in play when auctioneer James Christie hosted his first “Christie’s Auction” on this date in 1766.
Have a seat: Also putting asses in the seats was Massachusetts-based inventor Aaron Allen, who patented the “Self-Adjusting Opera Seat” – a theater chair that automatically returned to the vertical position when its occupant stood up – on Dec. 5, 1854.
Stillson the one: The famous adjustable wrench has not changed much over the last century-and-a-half.
Minor adjustment: Theater owners needed tools to install Allen’s fancy seats – thank goodness fellow Massachusetts-based innovator Daniel Stillson patented the modern adjustable wrench 149 years ago today.
All wet: Also invoking tools and mechanical advancements, the world’s first large hydroponicum – a greenhouse designed to grow plants without soil (a science that plays huge on the International Space Station today) – opened in California on this date in 1935.
Net gain: And it was Dec. 5, 1969, when the U.S. Department of Defense’s Advanced Research Projects Agency added two schools – the University of California-Santa Barbara and the University of Utah – to its nascent ARPANET, which already connected computer systems at U.C.-Los Angeles and the Stanford Research Institute.
The creation of the four-node “network of networks” marked a giant leap toward what would later be known as the Internet.
There were plenty of other stands: United States Army Officer George Armstrong Custer (1839-1876) – a fearless and aggressive calvary commander who scored major Civil War victories before ensuring immortality through an infamous defeat – would be 186 years old today.
The king and I: Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej (right) jams with jazz great Benny Goodman (left).
Also born on Dec. 5 were eighth U.S. President Martin Van Buren (1782-1862), credited as a founder of the Democratic Party; American aircraft designer, aviator and entrepreneur Clyde Cessna (1879-1954), master of the monoplane; American mathematician Elbert Cox (1895-1969), the first African American to earn a PhD in mathematics; American animator, producer and entrepreneur Walter Elias Disney (1901-1966), who pioneered animated films, built amusement parks and otherwise eked out a living; and His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand (1927-2016), the world’s longest-serving constitutional monarch and an accomplished jazz saxophonist.
“Middle,” aged: And take a bow, American actor-turned-stock car driver Francisco “Frankie” Muniz IV! Hope you’re sitting down – “Malcolm in the Middle” turns 40 today!
Give Agent Cody Banks your best at editor@innovateli.com, where our middle ground is fortified by your news tips and calendar events.
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BUT FIRST, THIS
Very Ferry: Jefferson Ferry’s sprawling South Setauket campus is adding some new infrastructure.
Someone old, something new: With Long Island’s 65-and-up population skyrocketing, one of the region’s leading life-plan communities has kicked off a much-needed expansion.
Jefferson’s Ferry broke ground Nov. 20 on a new Independent Living project that will bring 12 additional one- and two-bedroom apartments to its South Setauket campus. The expansion follows a report published in August by New York City-based nonprofit Center for an Urban Future, which calculated a 24 percent increase in Long Island’s senior population over the last decade – with Nassau and Suffolk’s 65-plus demographic surging past 520,000 residents.
The project – supported by financial partner M&T Bank and construction partner The Kulka Group – also checks off several sustainability boxes, with high-efficiency windows, next-generation electric heat pumps and a full suite of Energy Star-rated appliances meeting Energy Star Multifamily New Construction standards. “With demand for high-quality, diverse living options for older adults stronger than ever, this expansion allows us to respond thoughtfully and responsibly,” noted Jefferson’s Ferry President and CEO Bob Caulfield, who added the new construction would give “older adults on Long Island … access to a place where they can age with dignity and connection, and enjoy the right balance of freedom and safety.”
Second-year smarts: Advanced research by second-year medical students has earned special recognition at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell.
In November, as part of the Hempstead-based institution’s annual Medical Student Research Week, 90-plus students from the Zucker School and other med schools presented the results of comprehensive research projects conducted earlier this year. Six Zucker School students were awarded research scholarships to continue their investigations, including Samantha Cotes, who’s working to identify clinical and pathologic factors in prognoses and outcomes for patients with endometrial hyperplasia and uterine cancer; Emily Orsino, who’s exploring the role exosomes – tiny organic shuttles carrying proteins, lipids and other genetic molecules between cells – play in recovery from tendon injuries; and Benjamin Weisman, who’s studying the effects of negative or biased language in patient records.
Also honored were students Nicolas Rios, who’s researching how the splenic nerves respond to lung inflammation; Jake Vu Hai Do, who’s studying how emotional and behavioral symptoms in people with Alzheimer’s disease relate to changes in brain function; and Ryan McCann, who’s tracking children who’ve undergone an endoscopic third ventriculostomy brain procedure at Cohen Children’s Medical Center – specifically, to determine why some patients required a second procedure within six months.
TOP OF THE SITE
X-ray vision: The go-to medical-imaging technology has come a long way over the last century – but according to Voices Technology Anchor Brad Carlson, there’s always room for innovation.
Step up: Keep your entire innovation team in front of the socioeconomic curve with their own individual Innovate Long Island Newsletter subscriptions – always easy, always free, always a step ahead.
ICYMI
Adelphi University Innovation Center Director Lee Stemkoski dives deep into the proliferation of artificial intelligence across the job-search spectrum – including big risks (and rewards) for candidates and hiring agencies alike.
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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 Texas: Houston-based battery-recycling reformer Ace Green Recycling advances its global expansion with equipment deployments across Asia.
From Minnesota: Minneapolis-based parking-solutions spearhead Space Genius upgrades the user interface for its top-shelf parking-management software.
From Florida: Tampa-based auditory-care retailer HearUSA partners with the Hearing Aid Project to expand nationwide access to free hearing care.
ON THE MOVE
Bret McCabe
+ Bret McCabe has been elected vice president of the North Shore Coalition Against Substance Abuse. He is a partner at Uniondale-based Forchelli Deegan Terrana.
+ Jarvis Watson has been elected to the Board of Directors at Syosset-based ERASE Racism. He is the chief diversity officer at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy.
+ The Long Island Association has announced the election of seven new Board of Directors members:
- Jerry Balentine, president of the New York Institute of Technology
- Damon Brady, product line designer for BAE Systems
- Andrea Goldsmith, president of Stony Brook University
- John Hill, interim director of Brookhaven National Laboratory
- Craig Savell, New York Metro Region managing principal for Baker Tilly
- Christopher Storm, interim president of Adelphi University
- Jerry Ward, office managing partner for Ernst & Young
+ Michael Marando has been hired as assistant principal at Hicksville High School. He was an instructional coach at Francis Lewis High School in Fresh Meadows.
+ Melville-based H2M architects + engineers has announced five new hires:
- Jason Neuman has been hired as a staff designer. He is a recent graduate of Penn State University.
- Steven Rubano has been hired as director of IT. He was an IT director at Seal Dynamics in Hauppauge.
- Grey Trovato has been hired as a coatings inspector. He was a technician at Bulovas Restorations in Ronkonkoma.
- Kimberly Watt has been hired as a staff designer. She was an architectural intern at TruexCullins Architecture + Interior Design in Vermont.
- Michael Weltner has been hired as a staff engineer. He was a project manager at Goodmok & Sons in Baldwin.
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BELOW THE FOLD (Hot Stove Baseball Edition)
Poor Fielder: Prince was talented, but chronic injuries doomed his Tigers tenure.
Stop: A shadow looms over free agency, the Winter Meetings and the entire 2026 season.
Drop: Ranking MLB’s most disastrous free-agent contracts.
Roll: The “hot stove” primer you never knew you needed.
Hot stuff: Please continue supporting the outstanding organizations that support Innovate Long Island, including FourLeaf Federal Credit Union, which has been lighting the fires of member-focused banking for more than 80 years. Check them out.
