Learn a bit history via Flash map timeline

Can Google map goes back to history. Don’t think so. If you want to learn some history visually and watch the changes over time on a map, you might have to use something like this Flash map timeline. When it starts play, when the year number increase, the a vertical slider is moving to show the events. On the US map, colored shapes will visualize the data.

It is a very simple and not that exciting Flash piece. But going from here, some thing important and lack is discovered: How we visualize time based data. We are in a 4 dimensional world, aren’t we (at least that the dimensions we can comprehends easily.)