SortStack #3112 — 2034-12-16

By duration · Order from shortest to longest.

1. A Venus flytrap snapping shut on a fly 102 ms

   The plant can count: it only snaps after two trigger-hair touches within about 20 seconds, which keeps it from wasting energy on raindrops.

2. A full-term human pregnancy 280 days

   Only about 4% of babies arrive on their due date — and the classic count starts from before conception even happens.

3. A frilled shark's pregnancy 3.5 years

   At an estimated three and a half years, it's the longest known gestation of any vertebrate — embryos grow just over a centimetre a month.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. The Ottoman Empire 622.7 years

   Founded before the printing press, it ended after the airplane — the empire spanned 623 years and three continents at its height.

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