SortStack #3287 — 2035-06-09
By duration · Order from shortest to longest.
- A single wingbeat of a honeybee 4.4 ms
Bees beat their wings about 230 times per second — that frequency is exactly what produces their signature buzz.
- One full revolution of a helicopter's main rotor 150 ms
Main rotors spin at only a few hundred rpm, but the blade tips travel so fast they approach the speed of sound — the source of that thudding chop.
- An average human's reaction to a starting gun 252 ms
Athletics rules treat any sprint start faster than 100 milliseconds as a false start — it's considered humanly impossible to react that quickly.
- The First World War 4.3 years
The armistice was signed at dawn but set for 11 am — nearly 2,700 men died in those final six hours, the last just one minute before peace.
- 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.
- The time since Neanderthals went extinct 39.9K years
They never fully vanished: most people outside Africa carry around 2% Neanderthal DNA, influencing skin, immunity, and even sleep patterns.