You’re getting warmer: Welcome to Wednesday, dear readers, as we muscle our way through the first workweek of March 2025 – and the first week of meteorological Spring, which began March 1 (more on that below).
After a frigid start to the week, it’s certainly starting to feel like Spring on Long Island, with temperatures climbing into the 50s and nary a snowflake in sight. Here’s a midweek innovation refresher to keep those warm feelings going.
Do you see that?: Absinthe was actually outlawed in the United States for the better part of a century, for its alleged hallucinogenic properties.
You bet your ash: We open today with a nod to another sure sign of Spring – Ash Wednesday, a big one for Christian faiths that kicks off the liturgical season of Lent and the 40-day countdown to Easter (not counting Sundays, ironically).
Speaking of peaceful observances, it’s also the UN’s International Day for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Awareness, an annual call to make love, not war – particularly important as the global community grows more divided.
Orange crunchies vs. the green fairy: And from the Department of Acquired Tastes come two Love ’Em, Hate ’Em, Nothing In Between observances – today is both National Cheese Doodle Day and National Absinthe Day, turning fingers orange and tongues green every March 5. (Go nuts with the doodles, but do celebrate responsibly with the absinthe, which doesn’t really cause hallucinations but does pack a punch.)
Circular logic: Also rather cheesy was The Decree of the Index, which was signed on this date in 1616 by the Cardinal of St. Cecilia and dropped the hammer from the Catholic Church, which banned Nicolaus Copernicus’ astronomical work “de Revolutionibus” for teaching “false doctrine” (that the Earth revolves around the Sun, not vice-versa).
No. 1 with a bullet: Also dropping the hammer was Samuel Colt’s revolutionary revolver pistol, which entered mass production on March 5, 1836, when the New Jersey-based inventor launched the Patent Arms Manufacturing Co. – just one week after patenting the thing.
Key moment: Further hammers were dropped – straight onto steel strings – when the famous Steinway & Sons piano company was founded in Manhattan 152 years ago today.
Meteoric rise: The Gloster Meteor carried Britain through the latter stages of World War II.
Air power: There were no hammers aboard – but plenty of bullets – when Britain’s first jet-powered fighter, the Gloster Meteor, soared into action on this date in 1943.
Indiana Jones and the flights of near-doom: And speaking of historic flights, it was March 5, 2015, when actor Harrison Ford crash-landed his 1942 Ryan Aeronautical ST3KR airplane on a golf course in Southern California, breaking his arm and banging his head real good.
The crash, which totaled the vintage two-seat monoplane, was just one of several real-life aeronautical accidents involving the Hollywood action hero.
Using his noodle: Taiwanese Japanese inventor and industrialist Momofuku Ando (1910-2007) – who invented instant noodles and founded the Nissin Food Products Co., home of Top Ramen and Cup Noodles – would be 115 years old today.
Packed a lot in: Misao Okawa lived to see four Japanese emperors, six British monarchs and 20 U.S. presidents.
Also born on March 5 were Scottish natural historian and marine zoologist Sir Charles Wyville Thomson (1830-1882), who revolutionized oceanography; Japanese supercentenarian Misao Okawa (1898-2017), who lived across three centuries; French mathematician Laurent Schwartz (1915-2002), who earned a prestigious Fields Medal for pioneering the theory of distributions; American megachurch pastor, televangelist, businessman and best-selling author Joel Osteen (born 1963), now a movie producer, too; and American former child star Jake Lloyd (born 1989), who’s had a rough life after starring as young Anakin Skywalker in “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.”
Deep thinker: And take a bow, Yoshua Bengio! The Canadian French computer scientist – a renowned computer-science professor and pioneer of artificial intelligence, neural networks and deep learning – turns 61 today.
Give the AI authority your best at editor@innovateli.com, where our neural network is always supercharged by your news tips – and we give your calendar events a lot of thought.
About our sponsor: Sahn Ward Braff Coschignano PLLC is one of the region’s most highly regarded and recognized law firms. Our attorneys are thought leaders, dedicated to achieving success through excellence. With our broad experience in land use, development, litigation, real estate, corporate and environmental law, we have the vision and knowledge to serve our clients and our communities. Please visit sahnward.com.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Taking the LOCAL: The Long Island Association’s charitable arm and the commercial division of the regional utility providing the lion’s share of Island Internet, TV and mobile services have revived a popular small-business grant program.
The LIA Foundation and Optimum Business – along with program partners the Long Island Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce – have relaunched the LOCAL Small Business Grants program, which will fund 40 small businesses in Nassau and Suffolk counties on a competitive-application basis. Most of the companies selected by LOCAL (for “Lifting Our Community Businesses Across Long Island”) will receive a $5,000 grant, though one lucky business in each county will receive an additional $25,000 stipend.
Applicants not already in the LIA’s portfolio will also receive complimentary LIA memberships – an add-on benefit for a grant-award program that has already awarded $250,000 to regional small businesses. “Small businesses fuel our region’s vibrancy,” noted Long Island Association President and CEO Matt Cohen. “The goals of the LOCAL Small Business Grants program are to empower entrepreneurs, create jobs and enhance the overall quality of life for residents on Long Island.”
Millie González: Well-read.
Book smarts: Librarians may seem “persnickety” to fools who ban books instead of reading them, but they actually play an essential role in disseminating knowledge throughout society.
To that end, the Old Westbury-based New York Institute of Technology has named its first-ever dean of libraries: Millie González, who joins New York Tech after nearly 20 years at Framingham State University in Massachusetts, including her most recent stint as that university’s dean of libraries. In her groundbreaking role, González will provide strategic leadership and manage resources with an eye on helping New York Tech “evolve into a robust, research-focused university,” the school said in a statement.
More specifically, the dean of libraries will work to integrate library resources into the curriculum and collaborate with academic departments to support interdisciplinary research initiatives. “We welcome Millie’s expertise to guide our implementation of the library’s strategic plan and … build consensus for a future-facing library that serves as a vibrant intellectual hub,” noted New York Tech Provost and Executive Vice President Jerry Balentine, adding González’s background and experience would also “foster an environment that advances our priorities of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.”
POD PEOPLE
Episode 51: Kyle Strober, making it all better.
Long Island has many organizations and many leaders monitoring and shaping the regional quality of life – but none more influential than the Association for a Better Long Island and its busy executive director, Kyle Strober.
Kyle joins “Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast” to discuss regional development, the need for more sensible tax structures and his highest hopes for the Long Island economy (plus, the best place to grab a bacon, egg and cheese in Merrick).
TOP OF THE SITE
Second wind: Despite its withdrawal of a key New York State transmission application, BP’s ambitious Beacon Wind offshore energy farm is not dead yet.
Team effort: Celebrate science, invention, entrepreneurism and all facets of the Long Island innovation economy with your own Innovate Long Island Newsletter subscription. Already have one? Awesome! But what about the rest of your innovation team? Always easy, always free.
VOICES
Staunch public opposition stopped the Shoreham Nuclear Power Station in its tracks four decades ago – but technology, safety protocols and environmental safeguards have come a long way since then, notes Sahn Ward Braff Coschignano Managing Member and Voices Law Anchor Michael Sahn, who says nuclear needs to be part of Long Island’s clean-energy future.
Something to say? Welcome to The Entrepreneur’s Edge, Innovate Long Island’s new promoted-content news feature platform – a direct link from you to our innovation-focused audience. Progressive product to promote? Singular service to sell? Sociopolitical position to push? Shine a bright light on the big picture, the little details and everything in between with The Entrepreneur’s Edge. Living on the edge.
STUFF WE’RE READING
Long time coming: How Women’s History Month evolved, and why it needed to. USA Today traces history.
Hear them roar: From scientists to athletes to activists, these women literally changed the world. Mental Floss gives props.
Gender defender: In January, President Biden formally added the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Center for American Progress writes about rights.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ Ligero, a New York City-based fin-tech startup focused on cryptocurrency, raised $4 million in Seed funding co-led by Galaxy Ventures and 1kx.
+ Deepnight, a California-based software developer leveraging artificial intelligence into new military-grade night-vision technologies, raised $5.5 million in funding led by Initialized Capital.
+ VerAI Discoveries, a Massachusetts-based, AI-driven mineral asset pioneer, raised $24 million in Series B funding led by Insight Partners.
+ Rune Technologies, a Virginia-based defense-tech creating cutting-edge software to solve military sustainment and logistics challenges, raised $6.2 million in Seed funding led by Andreessen Horowitz.
+ Archipelo, a California-based cybersecurity startup focused on attack prevention, raised $12 million in funding led by Dell Technologies Capital.
+ Tereform, a Colorado-based environmental startup focused on textile recycling, raised $1.25 million in funding led by AccelR8 and Toyota Ventures.
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 Sahn Ward). Gregory Zeller can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (Forward March Edition)
Making a bracket: Get yours filled out … the big tournament kicks off March 18.
Groundwork: Why March is one of the gardener’s busiest months (or should be).
You mad, bro? Exploring the origins – and vast popularity – of March Madness.
Degrees of separation: Forget the calendar – meteorological Spring is already here.
March on! Please continue supporting the fantastic firms that support Innovate Long Island, including Sahn Ward Braff Coschignano, where they march to a beat reverberating with decades of experience in land-use and corporate law. Check them out.
