SortStack #3049 — 2034-10-14

By duration · Order from shortest to longest.

1. One swing of a grandfather clock's pendulum 1 sec

   A pendulum about one metre long swings in almost exactly one second — a coincidence so neat it was once proposed as the definition of the metre.

2. A standard television commercial 30 sec

   A single Super Bowl slot of this length has sold for over US$7 million — more than US$230,000 per second of airtime.

3. A single round of professional boxing 3 min

   Round length was standardized by the 1867 Queensberry Rules, which also introduced gloves — before that, bare-knuckle rounds ended only with a knockdown.

4. The reign of Queen Elizabeth II 70.5 years

   Her 70 years and 214 days saw 15 UK prime ministers, from Churchill to Truss — she appointed the last one two days before she died.

5. The construction of the Sagrada Família in Barcelona (so far) 143.9 years

   Begun in 1882 and still unfinished, it only received an official building permit in 2019 — Gaudí said 'my client is not in a hurry'.

6. The age of the oldest known figurative cave painting (Sulawesi) 51.1K years

   The Indonesian rock art depicts wild pigs and human-like figures — painted tens of thousands of years before Lascaux's famous bulls.

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