SortStack #830 — 2028-09-16

By duration · Order from shortest to longest.

1. The men's 100 m freestyle world record swim 46.4 sec

   Pan Zhanle's 46.40 at Paris 2024 stunned the field — he won by over a second, an eternity in a sprint event decided by fingernails.

2. A typical national anthem performance at a sports event 1.5 min

   Uruguay's full anthem runs about five minutes, while Japan's 'Kimigayo' has just four lines — the shortest lyrics of any anthem on Earth.

3. A Eurostar train journey from London to Paris 2.3 h

   Only about 20 minutes of the trip is actually under the sea — the Channel Tunnel remains the longest undersea rail tunnel in the world.

4. The Woodstock music festival of 1969 2.8 days

   Billed as '3 days of peace & music', it overran badly — Jimi Hendrix closed at 9 am on Monday to a field mostly littered with sleeping bags.

5. The Islamic holy month of Ramadan 29.5 days

   Because it follows the lunar calendar, Ramadan drifts about 11 days earlier each year — cycling through every season over 33 years.

6. The reign of Queen Elizabeth II 70.5 years

   Her 70 years and 214 days saw 15 UK prime ministers, from Churchill to Truss — she appointed the last one two days before she died.

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