Force push: Welcome to Wednesday, masters and padawans, Jedi and Sith, bounty hunters, Imperial troops and assorted rebel scum.
It’s May 4 across our little corner of the universe, and while it may be a dark time for the rebellion, innovation surrounds us and penetrates us and binds the galaxy together.
A long time ago: “Star Wars” premiered in May 1977, and nothing was ever the same.
Dark side of the fourth: May the Fourth, of course, is Star Wars Day (playing off “May the Force Be With You”), which is supposed to be a fan-centered celebration of George Lucas’s far, far away masterwork – but is actually a very Disneyfied corporate master course in commercialization.
Despite the Mouse House unabashedly wringing every last galactic credit out of the thing – and the toxicity of a never-satisfied fanbase that makes national political debate seem tame – the world has truly never seen anything like “Star Wars,” and probably never will again.
Freshly squeezed: Back on Earth, ditch the blue milk and drink up some Vitamin C – May 4 is also National Orange Juice Day.
And if you were considering chicken for dinner, maybe try the veal – today is the 18th annual International Respect for Chickens Day, when global protestors pluck the foul treatment of agricultural fowl.
Volcanos in spaaaaace (not): Speaking of international respect, few have garnered as much as 18th Century German-British astronomer William Herschel, who discovered Uranus and – on May 4, 1783 – first recorded what he believed to be volcanic activity on the moon. (Spoiler alert: Despite Herschel’s formidable genius and legendary powers of observation, it wasn’t a volcano.)
It’s in the Mail: Achieving varying levels of respect is The London Daily Mail, which first hit newsstands 126 years ago today.
Still plugging away in print and online formats, the sensationalist tabloid reigns as the U.K.’s highest-circulated daily newspaper.
Rising star: Going above and beyond normal respectability was U.S. Army Corps Capt. Hawthorne Gray, who became the first daredevil to eclipse 40,000 feet in a hot-air balloon on May 4, 1927. (For those keeping score, he didn’t get credit for the record due to a technicality.)
Plot twist: “Another World” deranged doppelgänger Justine Duvalier.
Another soap: Leaving respectability a few exits back was the NBC daytime drama “Another World,” which premiered on this date in 1964.
Featuring the usual assortment of family dysfunction and tawdry affairs – plus sinister countesses, serial killers, evil doppelgängers and more – the iconic soap would run for more than 8,000 episodes before bowing out in 1999.
Iron Lady: And the world witnessed the very model of respectability on May 4, 1979, when Oxford-educated chemist and lawyer Margaret Thatcher – leader of her nation’s Conservative Party – became Britain’s first female prime minister.
Who’s the Mann: American educator Horace Mann (1796-1859) – who believed schooling should be universal and nonsectarian and was the first great U.S. advocate of free public education – would be 226 years old today.
Funny face: Not, like, ha-ha funny.
Also born on May 4 were English inventor Sir William Fothergill Cooke (1806-1879), who tapped into early telegraphy; German rocket scientist/automotive executive Fritz von Opel (1899-1971), a 20th Century Elon Musk; British actress and humanitarian Audrey Kathleen Ruston (1929-1993), the screen legend (and legendary humanitarian) known best as Audrey Hepburn; American physician and novelist Robert “Robin” Cook (born 1940), who’s got a thing for pathogens; and American actress and singer Pia Zadora (born 1954), who performed with Sinatra and even snagged a Grammy nomination.
Will power: And take a bow, George Frederick Will! The American libertarian-conservative political commentator, Washington Post columnist and author – a 1977 Pulitzer Prize-winner who at his zenith was “perhaps the most powerful journalist in America,” according to The Wall Street Journal – turns 81 today.
Wish the unabashed modernist (and devoted Chicago Cubs fan) well at editor@innovateli.com, where we tone down the political commentary, but tune up your news tips and calendar events.
About our sponsor: Farrell Fritz, a full-service law firm with 15 practice groups, advises startups on entity formation, founder and shareholder agreements, funding, executive compensation and benefits, licensing and technology transfer, mergers and acquisitions and other strategic transactions. The firm’s blog, New York Venture Hub, discusses legal and business issues facing entrepreneurs and investors.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Office 365: The State University of New York’s 2022 student officers-elect — (from left) Casey, Chun, Longuil and Zzoha — begin their one-year terms June 1.
Officer corps: Two representatives from Long Island are among the new slate of State University of New York Student Assembly officers.
Stony Brook University applied mathematics and statistics graduate student Jake Longuil will serve as Student Assembly treasurer, while Nassau Community College sophomore Tasnia Zzoha will be the new Student Assembly secretary. Along with Vice President-elect Michael Casey, a junior studying psychology at SUNY Plattsburgh, and President-elect Ally Chun, a sophomore studying politics, philosophy and law at Binghamton University, the new officers are scheduled to commence their year-long terms June 1, with stronger on-campus mental-health services and enhanced support for physically disabled students among their priorities.
The quartet was elected at an April 30 Student Assembly conference in Albany, by student delegates representing nearly 1.4 million students across 64 SUNY campuses. Chun, who during her term will serve as a voting member of the SUNY Board of Trustees, noted she was “unbelievably grateful” for the honor and raring to go. “[I’m] so excited for this next chapter, so we can get to work,” the president-elect said in a statement.
Growth mode: Northwell Health has made an ambitious commitment that literally doubles down on new Planet Earth lifeforms.
Marking April 29’s Arbor Day celebration, Northwell announced it will plant approximately 30,000 new trees, one for each baby delivered at a Northwell hospital during 2021. According to the New Hyde Park-based health system, Northwell delivered roughly 30,500 babies last year – accounting for 15 percent of all New York-born babies and about 1 percent of all babies delivered nationally.
The project kicked off Friday with a symbolic planting of one sapling at each of Northwell’s 10 birthing hospitals, including five on Long Island: Huntington Hospital, Long Island Jewish Medical Center, North Shore University Hospital, Peconic Bay Medical Center and South Shore University Hospital. “We are delighted to engage in an initiative to plant a tree for every child born at a Northwell facility,” noted Northwell Health Chief Sustainability Officer Donna Drummond. “We believe that we will have a positive impact on the environment … while providing our neighbors with a great way to commemorate a new life.”
POD PEOPLE
Episode 4: James Hayward, applying innovation.
A leading paranormal investigator, the CEO of Forbes’ 75th Best Company to Work For and a first-round NBA pick walk into a podcast – and there are 21 other awesome and interesting innovators waiting to share their stories, too. Welcome to Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast, where exclusive life lessons come straight from the top, in entertaining 30-minute segments.
TOP OF THE SITE
Cans can: And the bottles ain’t bad, either, as the third-annual Craft Beer Marketing Awards takes the stage – and a Patchogue-based pint-maker snags a top honor.
Stronger Bond: Continuing a year of high-profile Long Island law firm mergers and hires, a Syracuse-based super-firm has significantly increased its Island presence.
Keep ’em coming: The more always-easy, always-free subscriptions we get, the easier it is to bring you these engaging and informative newsletters. Tell your friends.
VOICES
It ain’t easy being gluten-free – but preparing and packaging gluten-free food products is a little easier for several Long Island startups, thanks to the specialty resources inside Stony Brook University’s Food Business Incubator at Calverton. Voices food-and-beverage anchor (and interim incubator boss) David Hamilton spills the gluten-free beans.
STUFF WE’RE READING
You can always remain silent: After abortion, what other rights might be threatened? Politico considers.
The Mouse and the hare(brain): Florida lawmakers are blasting Gov. Ron DeSantis’s War on Disney. Newsweek recaps.
C you now: Behold, the 50 top technologists redefining the CIO position. Forbes applauds.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ S.I. Container Builds, an Illinois-based construction startup converting recycled shipping containers into useable spaces, raised $1.7 million in seed funding led by HPA, Service Provider Capital, Chicago Early Growth Ventures and Kyle Stenzel.
+ Lemon Perfect, a Georgia-based hydrating lemon-water brand, raised $31 million in Series A funding led by Trousdale Ventures, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, Goat Rodeo Capital, Beechwood Capital, Melitas Ventures and NNS Capital.
+ Sealed, a New York City-based climate-tech innovator, raised an additional $29.5 million in Series B funding led by Fifth Wall Climate Tech, the FootPrint Coalition, CityRock Venture Partners, Cyrus Capital and Keyframe Capital.
+ Adranos, an Indiana-based rocket-motor manufacturer, raised $20 million in Series A funding led by Bob Bishop, Impala Asset Management, Explorer1 Fund, Elevate Ventures and Specific Impulse Capital.
+ Anuvia Plant Nutrients, a Florida-based field-ready fertilizer manufacturer, raised $65.5 million in Series D funding led by Riverstone Holdings, Piva Capital, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, LK Advisers Limited and Pontifax Global Food and Agriculture Technology Fund.
+ Offor Health, an Ohio-based on-site clinical services provider for medical and dental practices, closed a $9 million Series A1 round led by AXA Venture Partners, SpringRock Ventures, Columbus-based LOUD Capital and MBX Capital.
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 Farrell Fritz). Marlene McDonnell can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD
Kinda blew it: New York Democrats handed back a big electoral advantage. (Graph: FiveThirtyEight)
Fumble: How New York Democrats completely bungled redistricting.
Error: How (and why) to avoid the multi-cloud “vendor think” trap.
Oops: How to save you career after screwing up at work.
Make no mistake: Please continue supporting the amazing firms that support Innovate Long Island, including Farrell Fritz, where steady hands secure entrepreneurs, investors and all manners of corporate entities. Check them out.
