Jon Huntsman, the most qualified, moderate Republican candidate for president withdrew from the race today after a poor showing in New Hampshire and polls showing that he trailed a TV personality who isn't even on the ballot in Saturday's South Carolina primary. Before sheepishly endorsing Mitt Romney, Huntsman complained about how mean the other candidates are. “This race has degenerated into an onslaught of negative and personal attacks not worthy of the American people and not worthy of this critical time in American history,” Huntsman said, apparently never seeing those awesome attack ads John Adams launched against Thomas Jefferson in 1800. more ›

In case you're interested in how the government was keeping your secrets all the way back in 1791, Sotheby's will be auctioning off a first edition of the first U.S. Census signed by Thomas Jefferson, the Secretary of State at the time. The document will be a part of the James S. Copley Library: Magnificent American Historical Documents auction on April 14th, and is expected to sell for between $50,000 and $70,000. It lists the population of the nation's 13 states, the southwest territory and "Washington District," which had a population of 35,691, including 15,365 "Free white females including heads of families." You can see some of the document in the e-catalogue. [Via 1010Wins] more ›

John Adams once wrote to his wife Abigail, "The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival." July 2nd? The authors of Inside the Apple remind us that America actually declared its independence from Great Britain today. Before you clock out, however, they also add that "only 12 of the 13 original colonies had voted to declare independence on July 2—the delegates from the thirteenth colony, New York, did not feel they had been invested with such power and retreated from Philadelphia to discuss their options. Meanwhile, on July 4, the Continental Congress agreed to print the Declaration." On July 9th a copy arrived here, where George Washington's troops were stationed, and it was on that day that New York agreed to be the thirteenth and final colony to declare independence. And yes, this totally means we should celebrate Independence Week from July 2nd to 9th! Someone draft a petition, it's what Thomas Jefferson would have done. In the meantime, check out the Beach Boys rocking Central Park on July 2nd, 1967. 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 ›

Mr. Brownstone is reuniting this weekend with a show at Bowery Ballroom. The Guns n' Roses cover band is led by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah drummer Sean Greenhalgh (who makes for a pretty good Axl!) and touts themselves as the World's Drunkest Tribute to G n' R. We asked them to give us their Top 5 all-time best reunions list to commemorate the event. THE FIVE GREATEST REUNIONS by Mr. Brownstone, the World's Drunkest... more ›

That big empty cement pool in Greenpoint has become a landmark. The recently rejuvinated (but still dry) McCarren Park Pool was designated such by the Landmarks Preservation Commission yesterday morning. more ›

The New York Public Library is closed today––it is a national holiday––but New Yorkers should be proud to hear that the main branch on 42nd St. and 5th Ave. has been entrusted with one of two surviving copies of the Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson himself. The document is a handwritten duplicate of the document signed in Philadelphia 231 years ago, asserting the original thirteen colonies' indepedendence from England and starting the American Revolution. more ›

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Mayor Bloomberg spent Memorial Day at a number of different events in Queens and spoke about a number of issues: more ›

Let us be the first to wish you a happy President’s Day, assuming your loved ones or roommates haven’t beaten us to it. Just on the heels of Valentine’s Day, this holiday comes as a welcomed treat with no responsibilities of gift buying, cooking or convincing yourself that you’re “just picky”. Not to mention a day off to catch up on important tasks like beating your high score at Wii Bowling (current record: 152) or watching those NetFlix that have been patiently waiting for you, collecting dust on your TV stand. But it’s easy to get caught up in “you” and forget the meaning behind the holiday. President’s Day is an opportunity to recognize some of the great and crappy Presidents that have helped to build our nation. Being leader of the free world is really hard work - requiring frequent vacations and trips to the ranch. Sometimes you need to take a night off from building an empire and have a nice, stiff drink. So that’s how we are going to celebrate today - take it easy, turn off the Treo and drink what the big boys do. more ›

Today, many businesses are closed in honor of President's Day. Wall Street is closed, as are banks, government offices and schools. There's no regular garbage pickup, but the Department of Sanitation will be picking up garbage that has been stranded due to last week's storm. more ›

Queens County Farm. Begun in 1697, this is the only working historical farm in the city. All kinds of vegetables are grown on site, and animals like these piglets are raised here. Today there will also be a haunted house ($4 admission, from 1-7pm) as well as a children’s fall festival with hayrides, a petting zoo, and games like the original “trinkets-in-the-haystack.” Available at the shop are farm-produced honey and apples. (Did you know the Newtown Pippin, the “prince of apples” preferred by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, was first grown in Queens in the 1700s? It’s in season now, so seek it out.) more ›

Nothing, except maybe college admissions, seems to get New York parents panties into a twist like the city's specialized high schools. Parent have, since the inception of "the Test," been complaining about how unfair it is that admission into the city's math and science schools is decided completely by a test that is taken only once in eighth grade. They complain that at the Boston Latin School admissions takes grades into account and that at the Thomas Jefferson High School in Virginia, a sibling school to Stuy, they not only use test scores but also grades, essays and teacher recommendations. more ›

Since boing boing posted it on Monday, Gothamist has been enjoying Ji Lee's Bubble Project. Lee printed 50,000 "thought bubble" stickers and plastered them over advertisements of all sorts across the city, waited for the vultures to uncap their pens with glee, and then went back to photograph what people wrote. The results are broken up into different sections, such as Social Commentary, Personal Messages and Media and Fashion. Gothamist's favorites are would be this one of Michael Douglas, a Thomas Jefferson quote and a Starbucks thought. If you haven't already, also check out the Seeds section, where it seems like empty bubbles are waiting to be filled like this one. more ›

The NY Times has some heartbreakingly cute pictures of elementary school students returning to school with captions like (a photo which reminded Gothamist more than a little bit of ourselves circa 1982). The Times article also mentions that Chancellor Klein impressed student by "sinking a three-point shot" in the gym; check out this clip from NY1 and, towards the end, you'll see Chancellor Klein seriously freak out from excitement that he was able to make the shot in front of reporters and cameras. more ›

In June of 1776, five men - John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston - began drafting the Declaration of Independence. A final draft was sent to Congress on July 1, and it was ratified on July 4. However, Congress had made some revisions, much to the dismay of Jefferson, the primary author. For posterity, he immediately made several copies of the original text, underlining the sections that had been modified. more ›

The town of Weehawken pulled out all the stops for the reenactment: Hamilton and Burr arrived by boat (from Floating the Apple), just as their forefathers did, for the duel, and arranged tours of Burr's and Hamilton's houses. And it was all-Hamilton this weekend at the NY Times: Ron Chernow's Op-Ed piece about Hamilton is excellent ("). Chernow has just completed a book about Alexander Hamiltion (Gothamist also recommends his books, The House of Morgan about J.P., etc., and Titan about John D. Rockefeller). The Times magazine's Hamilton piece by Ted Widmer referenced the move to replace Hamilton on the $10 bill with Reagan. more ›

Taking a play out of fashion industry's notebook, the U.S. Mint continues its effort to sex up its image by introducing not one but TWO new nickels next year, one for the spring, the other for fall. The nickels will still have Thomas Jefferson's profile, but the backs are new, both with events from Jefferson's presidency. The Spring Nickel celebrates the bicentennial of the Louisiana Purchase, which doubled the size of the United States as well as displaced Native Americans, thus one Native American hand and one military hand. Fall Nickel celebrates Lewis and Clark's journey through the Pacific Northwest; the image on the nickel is of Lewis's Keelboat. The Mint has an explanation of the Keelboat, but it basically looks like a boat you use when you're trying to explore the Pacific Northwest in the early 1800s. more ›

The Presidents of the United States Interesting fact: there have been only thirteen presidents who have served eight or more years in office. I think the reason that no one can remember any 19th century presidents besides Lincoln is that they all served four year terms. more ›