This three-minute visualization of the relative sizes of four empires---France, Portugal, Spain and England---from the early 1800s to the present is mesmerizing. Once you've seen it, you want to see Holland, Russia and the U.S. as well. Definitely watch until 1960 so you can see the wonderful explosion of the French empire! <media src="http://www.youtube.com/v/EwOA8AfeHM4" caption="Visualizing Empire's Decline" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwOA8AfeHM4" author="" source="YouTube" align="center" class="frame">