SortStack #802 — 2028-08-19

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. A qualifying rodeo bull ride 8 sec

   Riders must stay on with one hand for the full count to score at all — touching the bull or themselves with the free hand means instant disqualification.

3. 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.

4. The construction of the Empire State Building 1.1 years

   Crews added roughly four and a half storeys per week, finishing ahead of schedule and under budget during the Great Depression.

5. 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.

6. The time since humans invented the wheel 5.5K years

   Potter's wheels came before wheels for transport — and the oldest wooden wheel ever found, near Ljubljana, is about 5,150 years old.

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