Summer stroll: More like a summertime sprint, dear readers, as we wrap up this anything-but-leisurely week of socioeconomic innovation and look forward to another well-earned weekend.
However you got here, you made it to Friday – let’s celebrate with a big finish.
Root cause: One of humanity’s great confection combos.
Because there’s beer, and there’s beer: It’s Aug. 6 out there, bringing one of the yummiest of the made-up holidays – today is National Root Beer Float Day.
As it’s the first Friday in August, today is also International Beer Day, a fête geared more to grown-up tastes.
Freshly minted: Better chase that frosty brew with a breath mint – Aug. 6 is also National Fresh Breath Day.
Russian to judgement: Here’s a breath of fresh air concerning our longtime adversaries, the Russkies – the Russian Geographical Society, still a leading global organization championing oceanography and ethnography, was founded on Aug. 6, 1845.
Shocking development: Execution by electrocution was a fresh concept on this date in 1890, when William Kemmler became the first convicted murderer sent to the chair.
No. Juan: For the first time, audiences could hear what they were seeing with the 1925 world premiere of “Don Juan.”
Not exactly Dolby: But it was still an (electrical) breakthrough on Aug. 6, 1925, when Bell Telephone Laboratories and Western Electric introduced the Vitaphone.
The sound-on-disc system – which synchronized music, dialogue and moving pictures – debuted in New York City with the world premiere of Warner Bros. Studios’ “Don Juan.”
Life, interrupted: NASA didn’t quite synchronize its facts 25 years ago today, when it announced that a Martian meteorite recovered in Antarctica contained evidence of bacterial colonies – proof-positive of life on Mars (it wasn’t).
To be concluded: And speaking of synchronicity, it was that same day – Aug. 6, 1996 – when HarperCollins published “A Game of Thrones,” the first book in what sword-and-sorcery author George RR Martin originally planned as a trilogy.
A quarter-century later, the sixth volume of what’s now envisioned as the seven-book “Song of Fire and Ice” saga is expected to hit shelves sometime this year … maybe.
Penicillin point: Scottish physician, microbiologist and Nobel laureate Sir Alexander Fleming (1881-1955) – who’s saved countless millions of lives by discovering the first broadly effective antibiotic substance, which he named penicillin – would be 140 years old today.
By sea and air: Robinson, in command.
Also born on Aug. 6 were Victorian Era British Poet Laureate Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892); American physician and surgeon Andrew Taylor Still (1828-1917), who founded osteopathic medicine; American actress, model and studio executive Lucille Désirée Ball (1911-1989), the undisputed First Lady of Comedy; American artist, magazine illustrator and film director Andy Warhol (born Andrew Warhola, 1928-1987), who led the “pop art” movement; and American computer scientist Jonathan Bruce Postel (1943-1998), who made significant contributions to the development of the Internet.
Center of attention: And take a bow, David Maurice Robinson! The two-time Olympic gold medalist, two-time National Basketball Association champion and U.S. Navy veteran – known on and off the court as “The Admiral” – turns 56 today.
Wish the Basketball Hall of Famer well at editor@innovateli.com, where your news tips and calendar events are always – wait for it – a slam dunk.
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BUT FIRST, THIS
Stating their intentions: Make room, Northwell Health – Long Island may soon support a second big-league health system, with Stony Brook Medicine discussing a “collaboration” with the organization formerly known as Catholic Health Services of Long Island.
Now rebranded simply as Catholic Health, the integrated system of health and human services agencies – boasting 17,000-plus employees, six acute-care hospitals and a thriving network of physician practices – has signed a letter of intent with Stony Brook Medicine, which encompasses Stony Brook University’s five health-science schools and four busy hospitals, among other healthcare hotspots. The letter suggests exploration of a potential collaboration “that would expand leading-edge academic medicine and advanced clinical care and deliver greater healthcare options to Long Islanders,” according to a joint statement from the two organizations.
Though early in the process, Catholic Health President and CEO Patrick O’Shaughnessy is already touting a union that “will improve patient care, offer new services and enhance medical education for both systems.” And Margaret McGovern, Stony Brook Medicine’s vice president for clinical programs and strategy, is predicting “this relationship will include the development of an integrated strategic and clinical plan to grow and align trauma services, pediatric capabilities, clinical-service lines and training opportunities for medical residents in the healthcare systems and for students in [SBU’s] Renaissance School of Medicine.” Stay tuned.
Light touch: The Montauk Point Lighthouse will be looking better soon, thanks to several generous donations.
Lighting post: After weathering some serious financial concerns, the Montauk Point Lighthouse restoration project will now be supersized, thanks to an influx of donations and grants.
The restoration of the iconic 1796 tower, severely withered by centuries of brutal conditions, has been touch-and-go at best. The first restoration estimates in 2019 were between $3 million and $5 million, before the MPL Board came up with a more manageable $1.3 million plan – “still a huge capital expense,” according to board member Nick Racanelli, who noted the lighthouse’s first-ever capital campaign was further hampered by the rise of the COVID pandemic.
Fortunately, key grants (including a $438,500 New York State stipend) and generous donations (including $390,700 from the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation, $250,000 from Northwell Health and $100,000 from Sarah and Maurice Iudicone) have pushed the purse past $1.6 million and reset the fundraising goal to $1.86 million, which would allow the board to also restore the 1860 Keeper’s Residence, which houses the lighthouse museum. “This is a dream come true for everybody who loves the lighthouse,” Racanelli noted. “And judging from all these generous donations, that seems to be just about everybody.”
TOP OF THE SITE
Real blockheads: An ambitious team of Adelphi University computer-science students has recreated the university’s entire Garden City campus in Minecraft form.
Nordic know-how: A creative collaboration between foreign boosters and Stony Brook University’s CEBIP accelerator will help Nordic clean-energy firms transition to U.S. markets.
Listening party: Featuring A-list executives, educators and creators, Season 1 of Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast is a fiesta of front-row perspectives. Join the party!
ICYMI
Biacomm lights the way at Molloy College; Henry Ford paves the road for today’s entrepreneurs.
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 Virginia: McLean-based text-to-speech pioneer AppTex bolsters its Automatic Speech Recognition team with a renowned research scientist.
From California: Los Angeles-based design studio Cantina Creative conceives, animates and composites high-end “time travel” graphics for Disney hit “Loki.”
From Virginia: Sterling-based software developer Ekin Solutions streamlines DIY coding with fully automated, drag-and-crop code-creation tool.
ON THE MOVE
Jessica Nowak
+ Jessica Nowak has joined Melville-based Brown Altman & DiLeo as an associate. She previously served as assistant counsel to the Suffolk County Legislature.
+ Lenore Paprocky has been appointed to the Town of Brookhaven Industrial Development Agency and Local Development Corp. Board of Directors. She is director of business development for Smithtown-based Synergy Wealth Strategies.
+ Woodbury-based D&B Engineers and Architects has announced the appointment of six new vice presidents as shareholders: Matthew DeVinney, environmental investigation and remediation; Frank DeVita, environmental investigation and remediation; Christopher Koegel, construction management; Olga Mubarak, wastewater; Philip Sachs, water supply; and Carolyn Lowe, wastewater/water supply.
+ Hematologist/Oncologist Evan Diamond has joined New York Cancer & Blood Specialists. He will be practicing in the Greenlawn office.
+ Gastroenterologist Frank Gerardi has joined NYU Langone Ambulatory Care in Lake Success.
BELOW THE FOLD (From The Sports Desk Edition)
Spring in your step: The Adidas 4DFWD is a big hit in Tokyo.
First base: Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the baseball broadcast that changed everything.
Ready for some football: The NFL is expanding its exclusive Twitter Spaces content.
If the shoe fits: Despite Olympic controversies, Adidas will keep pushing the boundaries of athletic-shoe technology.
All-star performance: Please continue supporting the amazing firms that support Innovate Long Island, including Brandtelling, where creating your best brand story is no game. Check them out.
