SortStack #389 — 2027-07-03

By duration · Order from shortest to longest.

1. One heartbeat of a hummingbird in flight 48 ms

   Hummingbird hearts can hit 1,260 beats per minute in flight, then crash to about 50 at night when the bird enters a hibernation-like torpor.

2. The Anglo-Zanzibar War of 1896 38 min

   History's shortest war: the Royal Navy shelled the palace at 9:02 am, the sultan fled to the German consulate, and it was all over before 10.

3. The 1900 Paris Olympic Games 167 days

   Spread thinly through the World's Fair, the Games were so disorganized that some winners died never knowing they had been Olympians.

4. The first circumnavigation of the globe (Magellan's expedition) 3 years

   Magellan himself never made it — he was killed in the Philippines. Just 18 of the original ~270 crew limped home aboard one remaining ship.

5. The First World War 4.3 years

   The armistice was signed at dawn but set for 11 am — nearly 2,700 men died in those final six hours, the last just one minute before peace.

6. How long Jericho has been continuously inhabited 10.8K years

   Among the world's oldest cities, Jericho's stone tower predates pottery itself — people built monuments before they made bowls.

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