SortStack #2785 — 2034-01-23

By size · Order from shortest to longest.

1. A grain of table salt 0.5 mm

   Each crystal is a near-perfect cube because salt's atoms stack in a rigid cubic lattice.

2. A hen's egg 5.5 cm

   An eggshell has up to 17,000 tiny pores that let the developing chick breathe through the surface.

3. A standard house brick 22.5 cm

   Fired clay bricks have been made the same basic way for over 5,000 years, outlasting the empires that baked them.

4. A skateboard 79 cm

   The kicktail that makes tricks possible was a 1970s accident that turned skating into an aerial sport.

5. Mount Olympus, Greece 2.9 km

   Mythical home of the Greek gods, its peak was not officially climbed by humans until 1913.

6. A marathon course 42.2 km

   The odd distance was fixed in 1908 so the London race could start at Windsor Castle and finish before the royal box.

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