What’s the Rosh: Welcome to Friday, dear readers, marking not only the end of this latest workweek but the end of the entire year on the Jewish calendar.
Yes, the Jewish New Year (the two-day festival known best as Rosh Hashanah) begins at sundown tonight and runs through Sunday evening, heralding the start of the year 5784. We sometimes like to snark that, despite living 3,700 years in the future, Jewish technology is really no better than everyone else’s – instead, this year we’ll simply say l’shana tova and wish everyone a peaceful and happy holiday.
Challah good: Leavening Rosh Hashanah tables since 3761 BC.
Today’s specials: Your Rosh Hashanah celebration will likely be filled with brisket, kugel, challah bread and the traditional apples dipped in honey – but hey, gentiles have to eat, too, so thank goodness Sept. 15 is also National Double Cheeseburger Day and National Linguine Day.
For dessert, consider Butterscotch Cinnamon Pie Day, which is as innovative as it gets: The relatively new dish was invented in a videogame.
Sugar-free: Speaking of sweet inventions, the artificial sweetener saccharine was patented on this date in 1885 by Russian American chemist Constantin Fahlberg.
Change the world: Other innovators enjoying sweet success on this date include Hearst Newspapers columnist B.C. Forbes and Magazine of Wall Street GM Walter Drey, who co-founded Forbes magazine in 1917.
Uplifting: Scott’s upgrades elevated the sport.
Fore! Also teeing off on Sept. 15 was Missouri-based inventor Lewis Scott, who patented the modern golf tee 98 years ago today.
Luck of the Scottish: It was Sept. 15, 1928, when Scottish bacteriologist Sir Alexander Fleming – returning to his messy laboratory after a lengthy summer vacation – accidentally discovered penicillin.
Get lost: And it was this date in 1965 when the Emmy-nominated cult classic “Lost in Space” premiered on the CBS Television Network.
Frequently compared to NBC rival “Star Trek,” the adventures of Space Family Robinson actual predate the voyages of the Starship Enterprise by a full year.
Smooth as silk: Italian explorer, merchant and writer Marco Polo (1254-1324) – who enlightened Europeans on the inner workings of the Eastern world, and paved the Silk Road, with his famous tome “The Travels of Marco Polo” – would be 769 years old today.
Do or Dolphin: Marino set records, but never had enough support to win the big game.
Also born on Sept. 15 were American writer James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851), who explored White-Indian relations through classic frontier novels; 27th U.S. President William Howard Taft (1857-1930), the only chief executive to also serve as U.S. Supreme Court chief justice; Italian French automotive magnate Ettore Bugatti (1881-1947), remembered for elegant cruisers and hellacious racers; English crime writer Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie (1890-1976), the best-selling author of all time; and Academy Award-winning American filmmaker Oliver Stone (born 1946), who loves a good conspiracy.
Dan the man: And take a bow, Daniel Constantine Marino Jr.! The retired Miami Dolphins quarterback – an all-time top-10 signal-caller whose 155 career victories are the most by any quarterback without a Super Bowl title – turns 62 today.
Wish the nine-time Pro Bowl selection well at editor@innovateli.com, where your news tips are always winners – and we think your calendar events are super.
About our sponsor: Whether it’s helping in site selection, cutting through red tape or finding innovative ways to meet specific needs, businesses that settle in the Town of Islip soon learn that we take a proactive approach to seeing them succeed. If your business wants to locate or expand in a stable community with great quality of life, then it’s time you took a closer look at Islip.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Leading Lindsay: Northwell Health VP and RN Sandra Lindsay makes history, again.
Best shot: The Northwell Health nurse who became the first American vaccinated against COVID-19 is leading the way again.
This week, RN Sandra Lindsay – who made history in December 2020 when she rolled up her sleeve for the first U.S. dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine – volunteered to receive the first American dose of Pfizer-BioNTech 2023-24, the latest COVID vaccine to roll off the line. With nationwide COVID-related hospitalizations rising again, the new formulation protects against the latest variants (including Pirola and Eris) and marks the third different vaccine received by Lindsay, a former critical care director who’s been promoted to Northwell’s vice president of public health advocacy.
It’s also the sixth COVID shot overall (including boosters) for the nurse, who despite frontline service throughout the pandemic has never been diagnosed with COVID-19. “Having worked through the darkest days of the pandemic and seen the devastating effects it can have, I tell people not to take chances,” Lindsay noted. “We have powerful weapons like vaccines to prevent those devastating outcomes.”
Watch where you’re going: Albany has enhanced road-safety measures across Long Island.
Lamenting a rise in wrong-way-driving incidents and chronic crashes of over-height vehicles into low-hanging parkway overpasses, the New York State Department of Transportation has installed highly reflective signs and unmistakable pavement markings at 700-plus Long Island locations. The enhancements – all meeting or exceeding federal highway-safety standards – include more than 3,600 Wrong Way and Do Not Enter signs, with one Do Not Enter and four Wrong Way signs lined up along 422 individual parkway, expressway and highway onramps.
To thwart bridge strikes, new advance-warning signs displaying the height of upcoming overpasses – each roughly 75 percent larger than previous signs and staked on a reflective post – have been installed along eight Long Island parkways and the Robert Moses Causeway. “Safety is everyone’s responsibility,” noted State Commissioner of Transportation Marie Therese Dominguez. “While we remain committed to doing all we can to enhance the safety of our roadways, we need motorists to obey the rules of the road, drive responsibly and remain alert at all times.”
TOP OF THE SITE
When men were men, and politics wasn’t a festering cesspool: CIBS recalls kinder, gentler political discourse with a forward-looking meet-the-candidates breakfast.
Something funny? The next episode of Spark: The Innovate Long Island drops Tuesday – catch up quick on Seasons 1-3 (and the first half of Season 4), filled with knowledge, perspective and more than a few laughs.
ICYMI
Two decades after the devastating terrorist attacks, Stony Brook University researchers are tracking hundreds of cases of early-onset cognitive decline in 9/11 World Trade Center responders.
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 Arizona: Phoenix-based socially minded mattress maker Leesa Sleep chills out with low-heat, high-comfort luxury line.
From Alabama: Daphne-based personalized video platform SalesMail enhances interactive features for multifamily and senior-living operators.
From Illinois: Chicago-based recruiting/hiring software-maker Hireology beefs up collaboration with global job site Indeed.
ON THE MOVE
Irene Macyk
+ Irene Macyk has been appointed executive director of South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore. She was the associate executive director and chief nursing officer at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset.
+ William Herrmann has been appointed vice president of Stony Brook University’s Facilities and Services Division. He was SBU’s associate vice president for campus planning, design and construction.
+ Kristen Rea has been hired as director of special education in the East Islip Union Free School District. She was a special education associate in the Southampton Union Free School District.
+ Gregory Kalnitsky has joined Uniondale-based Forchelli Deegan Terrana as a partner in the Land Use and Zoning Practice Group. He was acting corporation counsel for the City of Long Beach.
+ Lula Lukas has been hired as creative director at Bohemia-based Bri-Tech. She was chief marketing officer at Plainview-based Tiedin Media.
+ Kimberly Branch has been appointed secretary of the Hauppauge-based Financial Planning Association of Long Island’s Board of Directors. She is vice president of marketing strategy at Holbrook-based American Portfolios Financial Services.
+ Remi Farnan has been appointed president of the Roslyn-based Junior League of Long Island. She is a project manager at Unity Construction Services in Manhattan.
+ Pamela Diamond has been appointed treasurer of the Hauppauge-based Financial Planning Association of Long Island’s Board of Directors. She is the founder of Creative Wealth Builders in West Hempstead.
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 the Town of Islip). Marlene McDonnell can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (Temperatures May Vary Edition)
Freezing point: Researchers know why you can’t warm up.
Cold truths: Science finally knows why you’re always freezing.
Getting warmer: Astronomers are close to solving a big solar mystery.
Hot stuff: Geothermal energy may be the breakthrough we’ve been waiting for.
Just right: Please continue supporting the amazing organizations that support Innovate Long Island, including the Town of Islip Office of Economic Development, which is always taking the temperature of regional socioeconomics. Check them out.
