On April 15th it will have been 100 years since the Titanic tragically sank, taking many passengers down into the Atlantic with it. Because of the landmark anniversary, the famous shipwreck is back in the spotlight. There's even a Titanic 3-D movie coming out, but a 3-dimensional Celine Dion-soundtracked homage to the tragedy isn't even the weirdest thing occurring around the anniversary. more ›

Almost 100 years after the tragedy, researchers have assembled a massive North Atlantic debris field map of the Titanic's wreckage, something that's never been done before. According to the Daily News, they took 130,000 photos using underwater robots and solar imaging, which together created the most in-depth look we've ever had of the 3 x 5-mile underwater debris field. A senior VP at the History Channel, who spearheaded the project, says, “We’ve got this vision of the entire wreck that no one has ever seen before. Because we have, we’re going to be able to reconstruct exactly how the wreck happened. It’s ground-breaking, jaw-dropping stuff.” Take that, James Cameron. more ›

Earlier this month Brad Meltzer's Decoded show premiered on the History Channel, and Atlantic Avenue tunnel enthusiast Bob Diamond has just alerted us that tonight the show may be talking about original tunnel dweller John Wilkes Booth! Diamond believes he hid out down there after shooting the 16th President, and that his diary still remains hidden inside, which would "reveal who hired him to shoot Abraham Lincoln." more ›

Behold! This morning the MTA unveiled the first "full advertising wrap of the exterior and interior of a New York City subway." Synergy alert! The ad is for the History Channel's Cities of the Underworld, which follows urban explorer Don Wildman on his adventures beneath major cities. Adventures happening ever further down from the ones New Yorkers experience on the 42nd Street Shuttle. more ›

Quest for the Lost Ark (Sunday, 8:00 p.m., History Channel) Tudor Parfitt looks more like Jeremy Clarkson than Harrison Ford, but he is a real life Indiana Jones. This History Channel documentary special traces his search for the Ark of the Covenant – the same thing the fictional Indy searched for in Raiders of the Lost Ark. more ›

Last June Scientific American took a look at a human-less New York, a vision that was fairly on par with how the city was portrayed in I Am Legend. Now it's The History Channel's turn to jump on board the post-apocalyptic train, their show Life Without People will premiere this Monday (at 9pm). The scene is eerily similar to how Chernobyl looks after decades without human inhabitants. The show's site tells us: "Abandoned skyscrapers would, after hundreds of years, become 'vertical ecosystems' complete with birds, rodents and even plant life," bridges crumble, subway tunnels transform into watery canals, and...bears take the JMZ? more ›

A look at some noteworthy television this week: Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project (Sunday, 8:00 p.m., HBO) A look at America's favorite insult comic and last surviving member of the “Rat Pack”, the octogenarian Don Rickles from director John Landis. Everyone from Chris Rock to Bob Newhart to Clint Eastwood to Sidney Poitier talk about the comic. 1968 (Sunday, 9:00 p.m., History Channel) 1968 was a turbulent and tragic year and Tom Brokaw not... more ›

We hope all of you, whether you have stayed in the city or have traveled to spend the holiday with loved ones, have a happy and safe Thanksgiving. While, for many people, Thanksgiving is about the bounty of food, football games, or the start of the holiday shopping season, it's also a good opportunity to appreciate your life. The History Channel has an extensive website about the history of Thanksgiving (with video). Scholastic's school-children-targeted... more ›

A look at some noteworthy television this week: more ›

A look at some of this week's noteworthy television: more ›

Today is Columbus Day, which means that your employer is probably not giving you the day off (according to the Society for Human Resources Management) but many government offices and schools are closed. The stock market is open, some banks are closed while others are open, and alternate side of the street parking is suspended. Here's a list of closures, but this sort-of-holiday is confusing. And, of course, there is steady opposition to Columbus Day overall. more ›

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A look at some noteworthy television this week: more ›

A look at some noteworthy television this week: more ›

A look at some noteworthy television this week: more ›

A look at some noteworthy television programs this week: more ›

“I had a tracking box in my bedroom,” he said. Huh? “That’s a box of sand that I walked in, pretending I was an animal. That determined how my tracks would look if I turned or walked backward.” It helped him, he said, to understand the nuances of animal movement. more ›

A look at some noteworthy television this week: more ›

+ Architecture Research Office's climate change-influenced entry is a finalist for the History Channel's "City of the Future" design contest (right). Flooded pockets of Manhattan are called "Inundation Zones." more ›

The History Channel is creating a wild, NYC-centric float for this year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. According to its press release:

Designed to mirror a child's tin wind-up toy, The History Channel float will feature a giant replica of New York City's most famous skyscraper, the Empire State Building. In addition, the float will reveal through its wind-up motion, iconic dates, celebrations and locations, tracing the history of New York City. Through the artistry of the Macy's Parade Studio team, the float will feature landmark events throughout history from the unveiling of the Statue of Liberty to Babe Ruth's defining moments at Yankee Stadium, to the world-famous World War II "Kiss" in Times Square, all helping to bring history to life.

Were you the anonymous bidder who got the model of the Starship Enterprise at the Christie's auction? It's okay - your $576,000 secret is safe with us. The auction brought in double what Christie's had expected, with certain items going for well over than what was previously estimated. For instance, Captain Jean-Luc Picard's chair sold for $52,000 (original estimate $9,000). The entire sale brought in over $7.1 million, proving that Star Trek fans still rule the sci-fi/fantasy world -- that is until Peter Jackson decides to auction off bits of the Lord of the Rings lot. more ›

Gothamist has been sucked in to the History Channel's documentaries about the gangs of New York recently. Being history buffs, we want to learn more, but how do we do that without having to watch the Scorsese film again (which omitted a lot of facts)? With the Big Onion Walking Tours! more ›

You might find the History Channel's reenactments of various moments of history scary, creepy, or trippy (the Barbarians series was off the hook), but they are definitely informative. This week, the HC is tackling the Conquest of America, with appearances by Bering, Coranado, and more, but Gothamist is most interested in an Englishman named Henry Hudson whose extensive travels in our part of the country have made sure that the estuary we know as the Hudson River was named after him. Little did Hudson know that people would be swimming his namesake hundreds of years later to prove it was polluted. The Henry Hudson segment runs tomorrow night at 9PM on the History Channel, which isn't great in Gothamist's book because it's when Veronica Mars comes back with a BRAND NEW EPISODE, but it'll repeat over the weekend. more ›

It's St. Patrick's Day, the day when New Yorkers are greeted by the sight of green bagels. Today's parade starts at Fifth Avenue and 44th Street at 11AM, and goes north to 86th Street. However, some firefighters will be protesting the decision not to allow firefighters to wear green berets during the parade by standing on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; another group protesting the parade is the Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization. And underscoring how important the parade is to politicians, some people are criticizing Attorney General and likely Democratic gubernatorial candidate Eliot Spitzer for snubbing the parade and missing the chance to kiss the cheeks of babies (Spitzer's people say he's already attending mass at St. Patrick's, but critics point out he'll be at a tort reform meeting). Missing the parade is almost as bad as being a politician who is not wearing any green - watch WNBC to see the parade and how green in incorporated into wardrobes. more ›

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Gothamist scanned the 62-page PDF of the marketing RFP, and we were struck by the idea of NYC accessories for the home. Could a bedroom accessory be some sort of alarm clock with sirens, car alarms, and noisy people partying? And for the kitchen, cockroaches and rat droppings? Will the Department of Sanitation make a trashcan for backyard fires? And our biggest fear: Mayor Bloomberg briefs. more ›

You'll start seeing ads in February. Other cable channels we'd like the city to team up with: The Food Network - tastings all around town; Sundance or IFC - more movies; Bravo - Queer Eye makeovers and Blow Outs; The Weather Channel - umbrellas, galoshes, mittens galore. And here's the city's official tourism site: NYCVisit.com. more ›

Gothamist wishes all of you a wonderful Thanksgiving. We are thankful for quite a few things - funny pictures of Mayor Bloomberg, a really good sandwich, passing Law & Order on-the-street sets, secret music shows, people who let us pet their dogs. Most of all, we're happy we've made many so many friends, new and old, that we've made through the site (new contributors, readers) who teach us new things and encourage us to learn more. Now, onto sneaking bites of stuffing! more ›

Please help me. My mom wants to have a themed Thanksgiving, and instructed everyone from my grandmother to baby cousin to dress up in Pilgrim outfits for the big dinner. Being a New Yorker, I wear a lot of black, but sure as heck don't want to wear a silly hat and put buckles on my shoes. How do I get out of this? I love my family, but this is just crazy. more ›