Mexican-American war: http://www.pbs.org/kera/usmexicanwar/timeline_flash.html
Hurricane Irene: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/08/27/us/preparations-for-hurricane-i...
Gulf Oil Spill: http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/deepwater-disaster/index.ssf
Evolution of Vegas Strip: http://www.lasvegassun.com/history/map/
Middle Earth: http://lotrproject.com/map/#zoom=2&lat=-1455&lon=1468&layers=BTTT
and Lab 3's from the past: