Are those (jingle) bells we hear? Ditch the dark decorations and cue Mariah Carey, dear readers – Halloween is over, the workweek is ending and, suddenly, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
Yes, it’s Nov. 1 out there, and we still have a brutal election season to complete, Veterans to salute and a Thanksgiving holiday to enjoy, but the Christmas season has undoubtably begun – look no further than SiriusXM, which strikes up a whopping 24 Xmas-themed music channels, beginning today.
Dental arts: Your teeth should shine on National Brush Day.
Brushing up: Before we get to a busy weekend of de-Halloweening and clock-back-turning (2 a.m. Sunday, don’t forget), there’s one more workday to complete – starting with National Brush Day, hyping oral hygiene and bristling with dental disinfection after yesterday’s candy-thon. (Those Butterfingers do cling to the old choppers, don’t they.)
Speaking of doing a body good, sack the Snickers and can the Kit Kats – it’s World Vegan Day, and milk chocolate won’t do as we celebrate the health benefits (for us and them) of animal-free edibles.
At least somebody can enjoy a good meal: While we’re not eating the dogs, eating the cats or eating anything animal-based, our four-legged friends can also eat better on National Cook For Your Pets Day, when kibble and canned crap just won’t do.
Stuck on what to prepare for your best furry friend? Consult a pet cookbook – yes, they exist, and what better time to go find one than National Authors Day, a Nov. 1 homage to wordsmiths? (And what better day to salute all the young writers out there? Keep reading for a golden opportunity to do just that.)
Above grade: Other artisans celebrated today include painters – more specifically, Michelangelo Buonarroti, the Italian master whose seminal achievement, the ceiling of Rome’s Sistine Chapel, opened to the public on this date in 1512.
Double Bill: Other all-timers taking a bow today include William Shakespeare, whose masterpiece tragedy “Othello” first took the stage on Nov. 1, 1604. (For the record, the Bard’s brilliant comedy/drama “The Tempest” also premiered on Nov. 1, exactly seven years later.)
Medicine women: While Michelangelo and Shakespeare drew crowds, the first U.S. medical school exclusively for women – Boston Female Medical College – boasted only 12 students and two instructors when it opened its doors on this date in 1848.
What time you got?: Zone out with Greenwich Mean Time, humanity’s official timekeeper since 1884.
Put on your mean face: Also packing them in was the District of Columbia’s International Meridian Conference of 1884, which adopted Greenwich Mean Time as the worldwide standard – formalizing London as home base for human time and creating the 24 global time zones we set (and occasionally change) our clocks by – 140 years ago today.
Black ink: And it was Nov. 1, 1945, when the first issue of Ebony magazine – still chronicling African American news, culture and entertainment – graced newsstands across the nation.
Leveraging a powerful creative staff (including Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Moneta Sleet Jr. and the incomparable Maya Angelou) and a deep connection to the burgeoning U.S. civil rights movement, the monthly periodical was an immediate success.
Catch his drift: German climatologist, geologist, geophysicist, meteorologist and polar researcher Alfred Wegener (1880-1930) – a leading pioneer of continental drift hypothesis who named the prehistoric supercontinent Pangea – would be 144 years old today.
Brains of the operation: Beloved by his coworkers, Bobby Heenan perfectly played the evil-genius role.
Also born on Nov. 1 were American poet, novelist and short story writer Stephen Crane (1871-1900), a short-lived but prolific scribe remembered best for “The Red Badge of Courage”; Austrian British mathematician and cosmologist Sir Hermann Bondi (1919-2005), who co-formulated the universe’s steady-state model; American publisher Larry Flynt Jr. (1942-2021), the tragedy-laden pornography purveyor who became a free-speech icon; American professional wrestler, wrestling manager and color commentator Raymond Louis “Bobby the Brain” Heenan (1944-2017), among the greatest heels in squared-circle history; and American business executive Tim Cook (born 1960), who held C-suite positions with IBM, Intelligent Electronics and Compaq Computer Corp. before taking the reins of Apple Inc. in 2011.
It takes more than tax cuts for the wealthy: And take a bow, Charles de Ganahl Koch! The CEO of multinational conglomerate Koch Industries – one of the world’s 25 richest people (currently weighing in around $67.5 billion) and a staunch supporter of Republican candidates not named Donald Trump – turns 89 today.
Give the morally intact tycoon your best at editor@innovateli.com, where your news tips earn our support and we measure wealth in calendar-event submissions (and, thanks to you, we’re the richest website in town).
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
I want you: Stony Brook University mascot Wolfie wants Long Island students to consider the new SBU-Suffolk County Community College transfer program Seawolves at Suffolk.
Seawolves at the gate: Stony Brook University and Suffolk County Community College have announced a new transfer-enhancing team-up.
With several Long Island colleges and universities already engaged in joint-admissions and guaranteed-transfer efforts, SBU and SCCC have unveiled the Seawolves at Suffolk program, clearing a path from the Selden-based community college to the SUNY flagship institution. The effort leverages a $500,000 Innovation Driven by Evidence and Advanced Strategies grant the university recently received from the American Talent Initiative College Excellence Program and Bloomberg Philanthropies; the grant is specifically intended to “amplify the power and potential of transfer students from lower-income communities,” according to SBU.
Among Seawolves at Suffolk’s built-in advantages for SCCC-to-SBU transfer students: paid summer research/internship opportunities with Stony Brook researchers for Suffolk grads, priority course registration, comprehensive faculty advising, mini-grants covering pre-transfer university classes and more. “SUNY Suffolk has always prepared our graduates for success at elite colleges and universities like Stony Brook,” noted Suffolk County Community College President Edward Bonahue. “This partnership allows us to support even more deserving Long Island students and families to live, learn and stay on Long Island.”
Stick a fork in it: Culinary themes abound in the latest publication of the Future Authors Project, an annual Jericho High School writing effort supported by Canon Solutions America.
First launched in 2017 in the Jericho School District, the Future Authors Project gives high schoolers a ground-up perspective on the book-writing process, from conception and drafting to editing and publishing. Participating students use imaging equipment provided by Canon Solutions America – a wholly owned subsidiary of Melville-based Canon USA – to blend vivid photography with their short written works, which this year convey the idea that communal gatherings (cooking and eating, for instance) can strengthen interpersonal connections.
It all comes together in a 2024 edition titled “Forklore,” written and produced by 22 Jericho High School contributors – 15 students and seven teachers – and printed by Bay Shore-based commercial printer Suffolk Printing. “It is very gratifying to see that Canon can contribute by providing the resources for these students to channel their passion for writing and creativity,” noted Canon USA Senior Vice President for Marketing Julie McMahon. “The Future Authors Project continues to help demonstrate what students can accomplish when given the tools and guidance to succeed.”
TOP OF THE SITE
Better safe: Unionized workers from across Long Island are better prepared to tackle the critical (and sometimes dangerous) work of constructing and operating offshore-wind infrastructure, thanks to the National Offshore Wind Training Center.
We approve this message: We won’t lower taxes, deport anyone or threaten your civil rights, and we never lie. But Innovate Long Island will campaign tirelessly for a better tomorrow – join the crusade with an always easy, always free newsletter subscription (the ultimate vote of confidence!).
ICYMI
With hefty assistance from the U.S. Department of Energy’s ARPA-E program, Stony Brook University scientists will lead the charge over fusion power’s challenging “first wall.”
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 Kentucky: Lexington-based tetrahydrocannabinol-rich beverage baron hi Seltzer announces national distribution deal for delta 9 THC-infused seltzers.
From California: San Francisco-based plaything pioneer Jilly Bing diversifies the toy department with new doll celebrating Asian/Caucasian mixed heritages.
From Texas: Dallas-based basketball “experiential entertainment company” JumpShot Live reinforces its high-tech ambitions with former NBA All-Star Kenyon Martin.
ON THE MOVE
Diane Manders
+ Diane Manders has been appointed interim CEO/executive director at Middle Island-based Habitat for Humanity of Long Island. She previously served as chief operations officer.
+ Christopher Kelly has joined the Centereach-based Middle Country Library Foundation’s Board of Directors. He is senior vice president of marketing for Ronkonkoma-based TRITEC Real Estate Company.
+ H. Adeniyi Taiwo has been hired as an associate at Edelman, Krasin & Jaye in Westbury. He held the same position at Tucker Lawyers in Syosset.
+ Neil Foley has been promoted to chief of government affairs and sales at New York Cancer & Blood Specialists in Ridge. He was senior vice president of sales/government affairs.
+ Stephen Juchem has been elected chairman of the Board of Directors of Melville-based Island Harvest Food Bank. The former board treasurer recently retired as executive vice president and CFO of First Long Island Investors.
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 (Long National Nightmare Edition)
Bad intel: Trump is leading, no Harris is leading … seems we never learn from bogus election predictions.
Gender bender: Is the United States ready to close the political gender gap?
Best guesses: There are a zillion election predictions, and most are wrong. What does that teach us?
Stranger things have happened: Election 2024 isn’t the only tumultuous national vote, or even the nastiest.
Campaign signs: Please continue supporting the amazing organizations that support Innovate Long Island, including the Town of Islip Office of Economic Development, where tireless campaigning is always focused on your business success. Check them out.
