SortStack #1579 — 2030-10-05

By duration · Order from shortest to longest.

1. A lightning flash from start to finish 198 ms

   What looks like one bolt is usually several return strokes in a row, heating the air to around 30,000°C — five times hotter than the Sun's surface.

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. 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.

4. A football (soccer) match, regulation time 90 min

   The ball is typically in play for barely 55 of those minutes — which is why competitions now add increasingly enormous stoppage time.

5. Mike the Headless Chicken's life after losing his head 1.5 years

   The 1945 axe missed Mike's brain stem; fed by eyedropper, he toured sideshows and his Colorado hometown still throws him an annual festival.

6. 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.

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