No. 795: Circling Australia, pulping fiction and lunching at the Automat, as smoke gets in your eyes

Dec 08, 2023

June 9, 2023

Air apparent: Welcome to Friday, friends, as we emerge from the Canadian smokestorm (thought we coined that one, but nope) and breathe in the sweet glory of a fresh weekend.

Just one more workday to navigate (or respirate?) first – and this week-ending innovation review to help clear the air. Ready? Deep breath!

Leg up: Lots to learn on National Sex Day.

Birds, bees, all that: It's June 9 out there, delivering the most titillating of made-up holidays – National Sex Day, when we’re supposed to get into sex education and safe practices and all that, but yeah, that's not what you’re thinking. (To set the mood, ladies and gentlemen … please welcome Salt-N-Pepa!)

Second billing: Today is also National Donald Duck Day, celebrating the June 9, 1934, debut of Disney's secondary star (as second fiddle, of course, to "The Wise Little Hen").

And it's National Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day, a part-fruit, part-vegetable, all-delicious bonanza baked fresh every June 9.

Harvard connection: Try as we might, we just can't connect sex, Donald Duck or rhubarb pie to The Harvard Corporation – though it's still worth noting the oldest corporation in the Americas (and the entire Western Hemisphere) was approved by the Great and General Court of Massachusetts on this date in 1650.

Roundabout: Nearly one year after sailing out of Sydney Harbour, British explorer Matthew Flinders returned to Sydney – then a British penal colony – on this date in 1803, completing the first known circumnavigation of the continent he named "Australia" in his notes (it stuck).

Cover story: The dime novel that started it all.

Brother, can you spare a book? The "dime novel" became a thing on this date in 1860 with the publication of "Malaeska, the Indian Wife of the White Hunter," a 128-page Hudson River Valley adventure heralding cheaply produced pulp fiction for lower-class readers.

Faster food: The first American Automat restaurant – an innovative amalgam of vending machines and the modern cafeteria – opened on this date in 1902 in Philadelphia, following premade-menu debuts across Europe.

Meteoric rise: And speaking of speed, rocket man Robert Goddard patented a fantastical rocket plane on this date in 1931.

While Goddard's much-criticized atmospheric rocket-propulsion systems were never actually manufactured, his theories and designs did propel Americans to space.

Well, that's just great: Russian Tsar Pyotr Alekseyevich (1672-1725) – the immortal Peter the Great, the Romanov successor ranked among Mother Russia's greatest statesmen and reformers – would be 351 years old today.

Playing the hero: Fox, still fighting.

Also born on June 9 were English engineer George Stephenson (1781-1848), the "father of the railways" remembered as the inventor of the steam engine; English physician and social reformer Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (1836-1917), the first woman in Britain licensed to practice medicine; American composer and songwriter Cole Porter (1891-1964), who infused both Broadway and Hollywood; American inventor Forrest Bird (1921-2015), an aviator and biomedical engineer who developed the modern respirator; and American playwright and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (born 1961), an Academy Award-winning smash-hit machine.

Hello, McFly: And take a bow, Michael J. Fox! The Canadian American activist and retired actor – a beloved performer and leading crusader against the Parkinson's disease he's battled for decades – turns 62 today.

Give the one-time Teen Wolf your best at [email protected], where we Spin City your tips into exciting news features and your calendar events are one of the Secrets of [Our] Success (and we just like when you say "hi" … you know, maintain those Family Ties).

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

Raising the DripBar: Who knew IV drips were so much fun?

You’re so vein: A national brand known for intravenous vitamin therapies has opened its first Long Island center.

Welcome to The DripBar Long Island, a registered nurse-staffed vitamin therapy infusion service in a "state-of-the-art, upscale and clinically safe setting," according to a statement from the Commack-based franchise. Following procedural training requirements and enforceable sterile-preparation and 503B compounding standards established by the United States Pharmacopeia, DripBar LI offers anti-aging, extra energy, improved immunity and preventative-health treatments via IV drips – or, if you’re short on time, good old intramuscular injections (please roll up your sleeve).

The franchise also promises strong fiscal health, stepping into a lucrative global intravenous solutions market that's already surpassed $11.1 billion. "Many Long Islanders are health-minded and … seeking new ways to support their wellbeing and fitness," noted to DripBar Long Island co-owner Charles Massimo, an Island-based senior VP with Minnesota-based investment firm Wealth Enhancement Group. "We have created a warm and inviting environment that resembles a luxury spa, where our customers’ safety, comfort and wellbeing are our top priorities."

Marge and in charge: For the first time, a woman will fill the Northwell Health Board of Trustees’ center seat.

Margaret Crotty, the CEO of global nonprofit health organization JSI and a Northwell trustee since 2019, has been elected to succeed Chairman Michael Epstein, who served four years as leader of the 37-member board. The Princeton University graduate and former Partnership with Children CEO is the first woman to head Northwell's Board of Trustees, a committee of regional business and community leaders focused on maximizing and sustaining progress throughout the state's largest healthcare system.

Crotty is also the perfect choice to succeed Epstein, according to Northwell Health President and CEO Michael Dowling. "She is an incredibly esteemed executive, familiar with the complexities of healthcare delivery and passionate about improving the health of individuals and communities around the world," the CEO said. "She … will be a tremendous asset to our leadership team as we continue our efforts to raise the health of the diverse communities we serve."

TOP OF THE SITE

Smoke screens: Conditions are improving over the U.S. Northeast, but officials from Albany to Long Island are still fighting fallout from this week's intense Canadian wildfires.

Positive publication: A Hofstra University psychology professor and his young daughter have co-authored a new children's book promoting family values.

Off and running: Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast is back in style with A-list regional rainmaker Marc Alessi – and another great conversation from the innovation economy's front lines drops next week. Listen up!

ICYMI

Changing of the guard at the Hofstra Northwell nursing school; digital reinforcements for Stony Brook University supercomputing.

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: San Francisco-based revenue-intelligence trendsetter Gong introduces customizable AI models for streamlining sales protocols.

From New Jersey: New Brunswick-based R&D services provider Vitalief pours novel human resourcing strategies into transformative Float Pool.

From New York City: Strategic consultancy The Kinetix Group fires up insight-driven customer-engagement platform for life-science firms.

ON THE MOVE

Robert Creighton

+ Robert Creighton has been elected to the Melville-based Long Island Association's Board of Directors. He is managing partner at Uniondale-based Farrell Fritz.

+ Jessica Altman has joined the Melville-based EGC Group as its integrated media planner/buyer. She was senior strategist of audio/video media investments for New York City-based OpAD Media.

+ Stephanie Alberts has been elected to the Nassau County Bar Association's Board of Directors. She is a partner and co-chairwoman of the Tax, Trusts & Estates Practice Group at Uniondale-based Forchelli Deegan Terrana.

+ Garden City-based Moritt Hock & Hamroff has hired three attorneys formerly with Manhattan-based Warshaw Burstein:

+ Christopher Andrade has been hired as an environmental scientist in the Hazardous Waste Division at Woodbury-based D&B Engineers and Architects. He is a recent graduate of Lehigh University.

+ Courtney Stuber has been hired as a digital data analyst at Hauppauge-based Austin Williams. She was director of logistics at Renewable Recycling in East Rockaway.

+ Thomas Mattioli has joined Melville-based Carter, DeLuca & Farrell as intellectual property counsel. He was a patent practitioner for several Philadelphia law firms.

+ Calista Zahos has been promoted to junior marketing coordinator at the Melville-based EGC Group. She was previously an intern.

+ Timothy Hendrickson has been hired as director of compliance at McBride Consulting and Business Development Group in Melville. He was a business communications writer/specialist at TruView BSI in Melville.

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 (Cities Of The World Edition)

Modern spin: Old habits die hard in the former "City of 808 Villages."

Tokyo drift: The past and future collide in the world's biggest city.

Italian heroes: Florence officials choose affordable housing over Airbnbs.

Beijing Mike's? Not exactly, though Subway is opening 4,000 shops in China.

Islip international: Please continue supporting the amazing institutions that support Innovate Long Island, including the Town of Islip Office of Economic Development, always leading the world straight to local industry's doorstep. Check them out.