Forward march: Well done, intrepid innovators! Despite everything going on in the topsy-turvy world – wars, tariffs, a new COVID variant, brutal losing streaks by the Mets and Yankees – you’ve navigated another busy workweek and reached the precipice of another well-earned weekend.
Of course, we all have no choice but to move forward – whatever horrors arise, foreign or domestic, militaristic or moronic, life must go on. But you do it with such grace and skill, and we cannot help but be impressed. Please enjoy this entertaining and educational week-in-innovation roundup as a token of our admiration.
Simply awesome: Milk, ice cream, maybe a cherry on top — if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it on National Vanilla Milkshake Day.
Independent thought: Before we dive in, this update from Innovation Command: Your favorite innovation news team is taking an early-Summer siesta over the days leading up to Independence Day. Please watch for your regularly scheduled newsletters next Monday (June 23), Wednesday (June 25) and Friday (June 27), then enjoy your Fourth of July week however you see fit – we’ll return Monday, July 7, to chronicle a new season of hot innovation. More reminders next week.
All are welcome: Back here on June 20, we throw our arms open for World Refugee Day, the UN’s annual effort to honor and support people who’ve been forced – by war, oppression, climatic crises and other causes – to flee their native lands
There was a time when the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free were unquestionably welcomed in the United States. Not so much these dark days – but it could be that way again, so today we also embrace one of the great symbols of Americana: It’s National American Eagle Day.
Gulp: Meanwhile, on this official first day of Summer, we face a delicious dilemma – both National Ice Cream Soda Day (celebrating a classic combo “accidentally” invented in 1874 by a soda jerk who ran out of ice) and National Vanilla Milkshake Day (sticking a straw in the most basic and wondrous of dessert drinks) chill out on June 20.
.–. .- – . -. – : Solving a communications dilemma was Massachusetts-based painter and inventor Samuel Morse, who patented the dot-dash telegraphy signals known as Morse code on this date in 1840. (Those dots and dashes back there spell “patent,” for those keeping score.)
Mountain time: Happy anniversary, West Virginia! The Mountain State was officially admitted as the 35th State of the Union on June 20, 1863. (Of course, the Civil War was raging, so if you count the secession of 11 Southern states, West Virginia was the 24th State … but who’s counting?)
That’s whack: Back up in Massachusetts, the infamous Lizzie Borden was acquitted on murder charges – stemming from the brutal ax murder of her father and stepmother – 132 years ago today. Nursery rhymes would follow.
Caroline Baldwin: Degree of separation.
Lettered lady: Here in New York, Caroline Willard Baldwin became the first woman to receive a science doctorate from an American university on this date in 1895, when she was granted a PhD in physics from upstate Ithica’s Cornell University.
Get me the president! And it was June 20, 1963, when the United States and the Soviet Union signed an agreement to establish a direct telephone link between Washington and Moscow – a 24-hour “hotline” that would facilitate immediate communication and, ostensibly, lower the threat of nuclear war.
The agreement was reached less than a year after the October 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
Who was that masked man? Australian American actor Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (1909-1959) – a Hollywood Golden Age swashbuckler who embodied the early “action hero,” but was more of a hedonistic, vulgar antihero in real life – would be 116 years old today.
Richie rich: His fabulous career has allowed Lionel Richie to amass a personal fortune exceeding $200 million.
Also born on June 20 were British architect George Edmund Street (1824-1881), Victorian era master of the Gothic Revival style; Scottish American bicycle and automobile designer Alexander Winton (1860-1932), who built diesel engines, raced cars and founded major automotive manufacturing hubs; English physician George Redmayne Murray (1865-1939), who pioneered the treatment of endocrine disorders; American playwright, memoirist and screenwriter Lillian Hellman (1905-1984), a Pulitzer Prize-winner and blacklisted Communist sympathizer; and American singer, songwriter and record producer Brian Wilson (1942-2025), recently departed frontman of the beloved Beach Boys.
Hello: And take a bow, Lionel Brockman Richie Jr.! The American singer, songwriter, producer and television personality – a four-time Grammy Award-winner who rose to fame as lead singer of the Commodores and never looked back – turns 76 today.
Say You, Say Me and say hi to the “American Idol” judge at editor@innovateli.com, where we Truly appreciate your news tips and your calendar events have us Dancing on the Ceiling (All Night Long).
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BUT FIRST, THIS
Let’s get physics-al: Science and opportunity ran deep at “Holography, QCD and EIC Physics,” SUNY Old Westbury’s second-annual theoretical-physics confab.
The world-class conference, held June 10-11, gathered leading experts in quantum field theory, chromodynamics, applied holography and electron ion colliders – like the $2 billion model under construction at Brookhaven National Laboratory – for two days of mindboggling dialogue. Scientists from SUNY Old Westbury and BNL were joined by researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Spain’s University of Santiago de Compostela, Israel’s Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Belgium’s University of Ghent for discussions on quantum-entanglement thermalization, effective field theory for electrodynamics in chiral anomalous magnetohydrodynamics and other fun topics.
While the disciplines were ultra-advanced, the point of the conference was super-simple, according to co-organizer Andrew O’Bannon, a SUNY Old Westbury assistant professor of chemistry and physics. “[We’re] talking about cutting-edge subjects that will bring everyone up to speed … on new results, ideas and techniques, and will hopefully stimulate new projects and collaborations,” O’Bannon noted. “Our physics students in attendance got a taste of what physics research is all about, what kinds of open questions are being investigated [and] what a professional research meeting looks like.”
Kekla, cracking up: Award-winning author Kekla Magoon is one of the big names expected to grace the 50th annual Southampton Writers Conference.
Book smarts: An annual Long Island writers conference that’s historically attracted some of American literature’s biggest names is gearing up for its 50th annual installment.
The Southampton Writers Conference, scheduled to run July 9-13 on Stony Brook University’s Southampton Campus, includes workshops, lectures and panel discussions led by acclaimed authors, editors and other industry professionals. Participants can hone their skills in fiction, poetry, children’s literature and other genres through workshops led by – among other luminaries – former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins, Juniper Prize for Poetry winner Carmen Giménez, American Library Association award-winning author Kekla Magoon and Iranian American author Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi, who’s earned both a Whiting Award for Fiction and a PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction.
It’s a lineup worthy of an annual conference that’s attracted the likes of Joyce Carol Oates, James Baldwin, E.L. Doctorow and Tom Wolfe during its impressive 50-year run. “I’m so excited about the workshop leaders this summer,” noted Christian McLean, who teaches undergraduate fiction and ethics and graduate arts administration at SBU and co-directs the Southampton Writers Conference with Susan Scarf Merrell. “The 50th annual conference should be one of our best.”
POLL POSITION
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TOP OF THE SITE
More than you think: A born-on-Long Island circular-economy masterstroke is breathing new life into old electronics – and significantly reducing “e-waste” in U.S. landfills.
As a matter of factor: Take everything you learn from Innovate Long Island’s thrice-weekly newsletters and multiply it by your entire innovation team – now that’s a winning formula! And remember, their own individual subscriptions are always easy, always free.
ICYMI
The State University of New York’s ASAP|ACE program – offering financial, instructional and programmatic support to at-risk SUNY students pursuing associate’s and bachelor’s degrees – will expand to several additional campuses this fall, including SUNY Old Westbury.
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.
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 California: Los Angeles-based spinoff USAWheels, sister company of Canadian e-commerce platform CanadaWheels, rolls out a new wheel-and-tire shopping experience.
From Minnesota: Rochester-based life sciences innovator Canomiks dissects the dietary-supplements market with a comprehensive, user-friendly product database.
From Canada, eh: Montreal-based affordable-activities resource Cheapfunthingstodo.com offers expertly curated vacation guides for 100-plus international cities.
ON THE MOVE
Deborah Schiff
+ Deborah Schiff has been elected to the Deer Park-based United Way of Long Island’s Board of Directors. She is executive vice president-ambulatory at Northwell Health in New Hyde Park.
+ Joseph Porter Jr. has been hired as dean of Rockville Centre-based Molloy University’s School of Business. He was associate dean and director of the global business and leadership graduate program at Nazareth University in Rochester.
+ Alan Schwartz has been elected secretary of the Nassau County Magistrates Association in Williston Park. He is principal and managing attorney of the Law Offices of Alan J. Schwartz in Garden City and the associate village justice in the Village of Centre Island.
+ Shirley Bornstein has been hired as a senior talent acquisition specialist at the Center for Wealth Preservation in Syosset. She was a talent acquisition specialist at Northwestern Mutual in Garden City.
+ Ranjana Mehta has been hired as an internal medicine physician at NY Health in East Moriches. She owned her own practice in East Moriches.
+ David Braunschweiger has been hired as chief financial officer at W Services Group in Hauppauge. He held the same position at CBRE in Port Washington.
+ Chuck Forte has been appointed to the Melville-based Long Island Contractors’ Association’s Board of Directors. He is vice president and Paving Division manager at Farmingdale-based Posillico Inc.
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BELOW THE FOLD (Tack On Some Extra Zeroes Edition)
Under new management: The longest active ownership in the NBA is coming to an end.
But not you: The United States added 1,000 new millionaires every day in 2024.
Buss fuss: Inside the Los Angeles Lakers’ surprising $10 billion sale.
CBO uh-oh: How to increase the federal deficit by $2.8 trillion.
Zero tolerance: Please continue supporting the fantastic firms that support Innovate Long Island, including Sahn Ward Braff Coschignano, where nothing less than best practices are always in play and failure is not an option. Check them out.
