SortStack #459 — 2027-09-11

By duration · Order from shortest to longest.

1. Jeff Bezos' first Blue Origin spaceflight, launch to landing 10.2 min

   The 2021 flight carried both the oldest and youngest people to reach space at the time: 82-year-old Wally Funk and 18-year-old Oliver Daemen.

2. Yuri Gagarin's entire Vostok 1 spaceflight 108 min

   The first human spaceflight was a single orbit — and Gagarin ejected and parachuted down separately from his capsule, landing in a potato field.

3. A flight from London to New York 8.2 h

   Flying west against the jet stream adds about an hour versus the return leg — eastbound flights have surfed the tailwind to under 5 hours.

4. Randy Gardner's world record for staying awake 11 days

   The 17-year-old's 1964 science-fair stunt of 11 sleepless days still stands — Guinness stopped certifying attempts as too dangerous.

5. The Western Roman Empire, from Augustus to its fall 501.9 years

   After the West fell in AD 476, the Eastern half carried on for nearly a thousand more years as the Byzantine Empire.

6. The Republic of Venice 1.1K years

   The 1,100-year republic elected 120 doges using a bizarre multi-round lottery system specifically designed to prevent vote-rigging.

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