Strange but true: Welcome to Wednesday, dear readers, and not just any Wednesday but the first Wednesday of August 2026 – and in a true statistical anomaly, somehow Innovate Long Island’s first-ever Aug. 5 newsletter.
Now well into our 12th year of producing these things, naturally we’ve had recurring dates – for example, including Monday Calendar Newsletters, we’ve published four different Aug. 16 newsletters, including editions in consecutive years (in 2023, a Wednesday, and 2024, a leap-year Friday). But somehow, due to Summer vacations and other calendrical quirks, we’ve never published an Aug. 5 edition … until today.
Green machine: They’re not quite a superfood, but green peppers are a healthful motor packed with vitamin C, fiber and antioxidants.
We’ll keep it briefs: Turns out we haven’t missed much, at least regarding national observations. Today is National Work Like a Dog Day, when we’re asked to maximize our professional efforts, and National Underwear Day, when we’re encouraged to hang around in our skivvies (where appropriate), and that’s about it.
It is, however, a good day for inventive cookery – National Couscous Day (steaming granules of crushed durum wheat semolina), National Green Peppers Day (celebrating the firm, mild fruits) and National Oyster Day (cracking open a few bivalve mollusks) are just begging to work together this and every Aug. 5.
Stoned: Also working hard (certainly), wearing underwear (probably) and enjoying oysters (maybe?) were the freemasons who laid the Statue of Liberty cornerstone on New York Harbor’s Bedloe’s Island (now Liberty Island) on this date in 1884.
Bounced: Lady Liberty is still going strong – less permanent were traveler’s cheques, which are virtually obsolete now but enjoyed a strong century-long run after American Express and the Thomas Cook Group introduced them on Aug. 5, 1891.
Broadcasted: Also hanging in there – despite numerous media alternatives – is baseball on commercial radio, which became a thing on this date in 1921, when Pennsylvania-based radio station KDKA (the world’s first commercially licensed radio station, for those keeping score) covered the Phillies-Pirates game at Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field.
The whites of their eyes: Annie, Sandy and other eyeball-less characters debuted on this date in 1924.
Orphaned: Also enjoying a long life was cartoonist Harold Gray’s “Little Orphan Annie” comic strip, which ended its historic newspaper run in 2010 after first appearing in the New York Daily News 102 years ago today.
Rocketed: And it was Aug. 5, 1973, when the USSR launched the Mars 6 space probe, one of four spacecraft the Soviet Union blasted toward the Red Planet that year.
The following March, the probe’s descent module became the first Earth spaceship to transmit messages from the Martian atmosphere – 224 seconds’ worth of garbled and ultimately useless data (blame a flawed computer chip) before contact was lost and the module, presumably, crashed into the surface. (The landing site and the descent module’s ultimate fate remain unknown.)
Moon shot: American astronaut and aeronautical engineer Neil Alden Armstrong (1930-2012) – the Korean War naval aviator who commanded NASA’s Gemini 8 and Apollo 11 missions and was the first person to walk on the Moon – would be 96 years old today.
The Hoya Destroya: Ewing led Georgetown to an NCAA title, but couldn’t reach the NBA summit (as a player).
Also born on Aug. 5 were pioneering Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel (1802-1829), whose short life was filled with numerical leaps and bounds; British meteorologist William Dines (1855-1927), who invented several instruments – many still in use today – to measure atmospheric properties; American ice hockey player and coach Herb Brooks (1937-2003), who managed the U.S. Men’s Olympic team to the “Miracle on Ice” triumph in 1980; American actress Loni Anderson (1943-2025), who subverted stereotypes as sophisticated secretary Jennifer Marlowe on the CBS Television Network sitcom “WKRP In Cincinnati;” and Jamaican American professional basketball coach and retired superstar Patrick Ewing (born 1962), a bona fide Hall of Famer who never won a professional title as a player, but did earn an honorary ring alongside this year’s NBA champion Knicks.
Marcia, Marcia, Marcia: And take a bow, Maureen Denise McCormick! The American actress, singer and author – best known for her role as the oldest of three sisters (and second-oldest of six stepsiblings) on the ABC Television Network sitcom “The Brady Bunch” – turns 70 today.
Here’s the story – whether or not you have hair of gold (like your mother?), send birthday wishes for Jan and Cindy’s TV sister to editor@innovateli.com, and be sure to include your news tips and calendar events. (This is, as they say, much more than a hunch.)
About our sponsor: Burman Real Estate is poised to revitalize key Long Island communities with thoughtful, relevant redevelopment projects. Current projects include Hicksville’s The Shops on Broadway, a reimagined shopping destination featuring a restaurant row with rooftop and central plaza event spaces; Mineola Downtown, a transit-oriented development; and a nine-story residential tower with direct access to the Mineola LIRR station. Check them out.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Bridge work: A cadre of regional developers has broken ground on a $130 million luxury-condo project in Mineola.
Burman Real Estate, AJM Real Estate, Caiola Real Estate Group and Park It Management stuck ceremonial shovels in the ground along Third Street July 29, kicking off The Bridge – a nine-story condominium complex that will ultimately create 101 for-sale luxury residences and a 10,000-square-foot event venue. Located close to the Long Island Rail Road’s Mineola Station and supported in part by a Nassau County Industrial Development Agency PILOT program, The Bridge is slated to include 25 one-bedroom residences, 60 two-bedroom residences, 15 three-bedroom residences and one penthouse, with modern amenities including onsite underground parking, a state-of-the-art fitness facility, a rooftop terrace with cabanas, a private pool and more.
The multifunctional venue will accommodate live entertainment, art exhibitions, fashion shows, private functions and community programming, according to a joint press release from the project developers. “Mineola has been ahead of the curve in planning for housing around transit,” noted AJM Real Estate Principal Adam Mann. “The Bridge shows what can be achieved when public and private partners align around a shared vision.”
Have you seen me?: The lone star tick is common — but the latest disease it’s carried to Long Island is not.
Tick, tick…: With Lyme disease lurking and the uber-rare “rabbit fever” emerging, Stony Brook University scientists have detected the regional presence of yet another dangerous tick-borne illness.
Behold, the Bourbon virus, first discovered in 2014 in Bourbon County, Kan., and now confirmed to be on Long Island by a team of SBU researchers who published their findings in May in the peer-reviewed American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Because of its similarities to other tick-borne illnesses, Bourbon virus is often misdiagnosed – confirmed human cases can be counted on two hands – though medical investigators have now pinned two fatalities on the elusive strain, one in 2014 and one this year.
Bourbon disease is transmitted by the infamous lone star tick – and there are plenty of those on Long Island, according to Luis Marcos, a Stony Brook Medicine professor of medicine and immunology and lead author of the published paper. “We have dense (tick) populations, and [Bourbon virus symptoms] are similar to other tick-born infections,” noted Marcos, also director of SBU’s Tick-Borne Disease Clinic. “For these reasons, the Bourbon virus is likely more prevalent than we think in our region.”
TOP OF THE SITE
And one for all: A veteran Long Island technology company is building a new HQ facility in Hauppauge – a big win not only for home-grown Mason Technologies, but for all regional innovators.
Help line: Please help Innovate Long Island keep these neato newsletters and our wonderful website content free from paywalls and subscription charges – our safe-and-secure Support Page is always open, and every gift goes a long way (even the small ones). Help us help you!
VOICES
Intel briefings from carefully curated experts in law, media, healthcare, technology, social services, environmental sciences and more, sharing their unique perspectives and best-practice advice. Welcome to the amazing Voices Library – choose a big brain, select a big issue and gain a big advantage, right now!
STUFF WE’RE READING
Eyes wide open: How to identify – and avoid – innovation “blind spots.” Forbes shares its vision.
Eye candy: AI-generated fashion models are proliferating – but are they over the line? The Conversation debates “digital twins.”
The eyes have it: And that might be a problem, as the “creep factor” creeps up on next-gen smart glasses. Wired keeps an eye out.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ Claryx, a New York City-based genomic intelligence platform for hospital infection prevention, raised $3.5 million in Pre-Seed funding led by Outlander, with participation from Company Ventures, Boost VC, Neon, Mana Ventures, 640 Oxford and Precursor.
+ Delightree, a Colorado-based, AI-powered operating system for franchises and multi-unit brands, raised $25 million in funding led by Innovius, Accel, Timber Grove Ventures and Emergent.
+ Maximum, a Florida-based, AI-native operating system for banks, raised $30 million in Seed funding led by CRV, with participation from Pear VC, Restive, Plug and Play Ventures and Anthemis.
+ Yellow Card, a Georgia-based global stablecoin infrastructure platform, raised $40 million in strategic funding led by SC Ventures by Standard Chartered, Sony Innovation Fund, Polychain Capital and Blockchain Capital.
+ HappyRobot, a California-based AI agent platform for enterprise operations, raised $150 million in Series C funding led by Prysm Capital and Eurazeo, with participation from a16z, Base10, Y Combinator, Koch Disruptive Technologies, Orange, T.Capital, Bankinter, Endeavor Catalyst, Kfund and Wave-X.
+ Base Power, a Texas-based provider of distributed-energy solutions and home battery systems, raised $1 billion in Series D financing led by Ribbit, Addition, Valor Equity Partners and JPMorganChase’s Strategic Investment Group, with participation from Altimeter, D1 Capital Partners, Sands Capital, Coatue, Layer Global, Energy Impact Partners, Thrive Capital, a16z, Lightspeed, Trust Ventures and CapitalG.
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 – on Long Island, and soon, across New York State (just ask Burman RE). Gregory Zeller can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (Macabre Mitch McConnell Edition)
Payback is a Mitch: McConnell’s long career is ending in an unmitigated trainwreck.
Deadline: A supposed Aug. 3 cutoff on a replacement special election has sparked a Kentucky civil war.
Dead weight: Since vanishing in June, the veteran senator has missed 47 roll-call votes, and counting.
Dead last: Alive or not, McConnell is never returning to the U.S. Senate.
Alive and well: Please continue supporting the fantastic firms that support Innovate Long Island, including Burman RE, which is breathing new life into Long Island infrastructure one smart and relevant development at a time. Check them out.
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