SortStack #683 — 2028-04-22

By duration · Order from shortest to longest.

1. An amber traffic light before it turns red 4 sec

   Amber phases are tuned to road speed — typically 3 seconds in town and up to 6 on fast roads, calculated from braking distance physics.

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 record-winning Vendée Globe solo sail around the world 64.8 days

   Charlie Dalin's 2025 run was nonstop, alone, and unassisted — skippers sleep in 20-minute bursts for the entire circumnavigation.

4. The Second World War 6 years

   From the invasion of Poland to Japan's surrender, it remains history's deadliest conflict — fighting officially ended on a battleship in Tokyo Bay.

5. The construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza 20 years

   Herodotus and modern estimates agree on roughly two decades — meaning workers placed a multi-tonne block about every five minutes of daylight.

6. Ancient Egyptian civilization, from unification to Cleopatra 3.1K years

   It ran so long that Cleopatra lived closer in time to the Moon landing than to the building of the Great Pyramid.

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