Speaking of cool graphics (as I was just the other day), this one at Our Amazing Planet is pretty, well, amazing. It's not interactive, like the World Cup Calendar, but still impressive in a Tufte-like way. In one very long page, this "scaled infographic" depicts the entire range from 36,000 feet above sea level (above where most jets fly) to 35,814 feet below sea level (the bottom of the Marianas Trench). Denver is on there. Check it out.
When you get to sea level, notice that the Deepwater Horizon oil rig is shown on the right. Follow it down to get a sense of just what an accomplishment drilling such a well really is. The amazing thing to me is that such projects generally succeed, and that this one is the very first such effort to fail so disastrously.
