SortStack #2384 — 2032-12-18
By duration · Order from shortest to longest.
- A car airbag inflating after a crash 30 ms
The bag must fully inflate before your head arrives — roughly ten times faster than the blink of an eye, driven by a controlled chemical explosion.
- One heartbeat of a hummingbird in flight 48 ms
Hummingbird hearts can hit 1,260 beats per minute in flight, then crash to about 50 at night when the bird enters a hibernation-like torpor.
- The Battle of Leipzig, Napoleon's 'Battle of the Nations' 4 days
With around 600,000 soldiers from over a dozen nations, the 1813 clash was Europe's largest battle until the First World War.
- The Siege of Leningrad in World War II 2.4 years
Through the blockade, scientists at the city's seed bank starved to death rather than eat their collection of edible seeds and potatoes.
- 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.
- 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.