SortStack #2377 — 2032-12-11
By duration · Order from shortest to longest.
- 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.
- A dentist-approved tooth brushing session 2 min
Studies show most people actually brush for about 45 seconds while believing they've done the full recommended time.
- The Isner-Mahut match, the longest in tennis history 11.1 h
The 2010 Wimbledon first-rounder stretched over three days with a 70-68 final set — the scoreboard wasn't programmed to go that high and broke.
- The 1900 Paris Olympic Games 167 days
Spread thinly through the World's Fair, the Games were so disorganized that some winners died never knowing they had been Olympians.
- A frilled shark's pregnancy 3.5 years
At an estimated three and a half years, it's the longest known gestation of any vertebrate — embryos grow just over a centimetre a month.
- The main construction of Notre-Dame de Paris 97 years
The medieval build ran from 1163 to 1260 — yet after the 2019 fire, the cathedral was restored and reopened in just five years.