SortStack #2426 — 2033-01-29

By duration · Order from shortest to longest.

1. 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.

2. An episode of The Simpsons, without adverts 22 min

   The Simpsons is the longest-running scripted primetime series in US history — Bart has been ten years old for over three and a half decades.

3. A flight from London to New York 8.2 h

   Flying west against the jet stream adds about an hour versus the return leg — eastbound flights have surfed the tailwind to under 5 hours.

4. An average swim across the English Channel 13.5 h

   Fewer people have swum the Channel than have climbed Everest — and rules forbid wetsuits, allowing only goggles, a cap, and grease.

5. A periodical cicada's life cycle, egg to final emergence 17 years

   They spend 17 years underground and mere weeks in the sun — the prime-numbered cycle may have evolved to dodge predators' breeding rhythms.

6. The Western Roman Empire, from Augustus to its fall 501.9 years

   After the West fell in AD 476, the Eastern half carried on for nearly a thousand more years as the Byzantine Empire.

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