SortStack #172 — 2026-11-28

By duration · Order from shortest to longest.

1. A main-stage TED talk at its maximum allowed length 18 min

   TED's curator calls it 'long enough to be serious, short enough to hold attention' — even Bill Gates and presidents get cut off at the limit.

2. A standard university lecture 50 min

   Attention research suggests student focus starts lapsing after 10-15 minutes — which is roughly when most lecturers are just warming up.

3. The Siege of Leningrad in World War II 2.4 years

   Through the blockade, scientists at the city's seed bank starved to death rather than eat their collection of edible seeds and potatoes.

4. The main construction of Notre-Dame de Paris 97 years

   The medieval build ran from 1163 to 1260 — yet after the 2019 fire, the cathedral was restored and reopened in just five years.

5. The era of the Crusades, from the first to the fall of Acre 194.9 years

   Nine major crusades spanned 195 years — and the Fourth never reached the Holy Land at all, sacking Christian Constantinople instead.

6. How long the Hagia Sophia has been standing 1.5K years

   Built in just five years under Justinian, it has since served as cathedral, mosque, museum, and mosque again across nearly 1,500 years.

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