SortStack #2923 — 2034-06-10

By duration · Order from shortest to longest.

1. A single sneeze, from sharp inhale to achoo 1.5 sec

   A sneeze can launch droplets several metres, and you can't sneeze with your eyes open without effort — the blink is part of the reflex.

2. The time since a human last stood on the Moon 53.4 years

   Gene Cernan traced his daughter's initials in the dust in December 1972 — no boots have touched the surface since.

3. The era of the Crusades, from the first to the fall of Acre 194.9 years

   Nine major crusades spanned 195 years — and the Fourth never reached the Holy Land at all, sacking Christian Constantinople instead.

4. 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.

5. How long the Parthenon has been standing 2.5K years

   It survived largely intact for over 2,000 years — until 1687, when a Venetian shell hit the gunpowder the Ottomans had stored inside.

6. The age of the Lascaux cave paintings 17K years

   Four teenagers and a dog named Robot found the caves in 1940 — visitor breath damaged the art so badly that today tourists see a replica.

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