SortStack #2475 — 2033-03-19

By duration · Order from shortest to longest.

1. The elevator ride up the Burj Khalifa's observation deck 1 min

   The lifts climb at around 10 metres per second. Your ears pop on the way to the 124th floor — the building is so tall it has distinct climate zones.

2. a-ha's 'Take On Me' 3.8 min

   The Norwegian band recorded it three times before it became a hit — the famous pencil-sketch video took 16 weeks of rotoscoping by hand.

3. Cooking a perfect soft-boiled egg 4.5 min

   At high altitude it takes noticeably longer — water boils below 100°C up a mountain, which is why mountaineers complain about their eggs.

4. The Anglo-Zanzibar War of 1896 38 min

   History's shortest war: the Royal Navy shelled the palace at 9:02 am, the sultan fled to the German consulate, and it was all over before 10.

5. A chicken egg's incubation, laying to hatching 21 days

   Chicks start cheeping to their mother through the shell a day or two before hatching — and she clucks back to encourage them out.

6. 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.

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