As Americans, we must know and understand our nation’s history and appreciate the men who sacrificed their lives, fortunes and their sacred honor to give us the freedom and prosperity that we still enjoy. More importantly, the issues that they addressed in the founding of our nation are issues that remain relevant to us today.

While the militias and founding fathers of New England saw the start of the war for American independence, it is often forgotten how instrumental the statesmen and soldiers of the southern colonies were in finishing the war and winning our freedom. This is a great opportunity to learn more about the battles of King’s Mountain, Sullivan’s Island, and of course, the decisive victory at Cowpens which marked the turning point in the fight against tyranny.

One hundred years ago today, firsthand stories told by Titanic survivors were being printed in the world’s newspapers. The previous night, at roughly the hour the Titanic had struck an iceberg five days prior, a ship known as “The Grief Ship” docked in New York. Reporters, congressmen and relatives mobbed the providential few who had been rescued by the Carpathia. The survivors spoke, and the first true accounts about what had really happened now replaced all previous rumors, and the stories have gone down in history. What was it really like in 1912 on board the Titanic?

“Excuse me, sir.” I faced around to see a woman dressed as a Titanic stewardess. In the tones of a rehearsed announcement she said, “I’m afraid we sink in twenty minutes.” She turned and left me standing in a darkened room next to an exhibit of vintage photographs, in a huge museum built to resemble the grand RMS Titanic. The stewardess was merely informing me that the museum was about to close for the night. But her words hit me with chilling kind of clarity. We sink. In twenty minutes.

On the day the viral sensation Kony 2012 was released to the web, Geoffrey Botkin happened to be on the ground in Africa, in one of the villages once raided by Joseph Kony’s terrorists. Fighting, burning, genocide, rape, torture and cannibalism had long ago emptied the village, but fearful residents were beginning to return, building new mud huts, and new lives, in the infant nation known as the Republic of South Sudan. They spoke to Mr. Botkin about the past, present and future. Since Geoffrey Botkin’s return to the US, the Jason Russell video has garnered some 100 million internet views, Time Magazine has published a cover story, Congress has debated legislation, and the director of the Kony 2012 documentary was detained by police because of alleged criminal conduct. These events have raised important moral issues about moral standards and the consequences of crime.

It was my first Oscar Night, and the first thing that surprised me was how early in the afternoon it started. Shortly after lunch, in fact. The reason, I was told, was, “Eastern Standard, man. So that little guys can get their little Oscars early, making time for the pretty people to get theirs live. Prime time on the East Coast.” Little Oscars were for stuff like droid noises and storm trooper costume design. The big Oscars, of course, were Best Picture and Best Director.