SortStack #3420 — 2035-10-20

By duration · Order from shortest to longest.

1. 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.

2. The 1900 Paris Olympic Games 167 days

   Spread thinly through the World's Fair, the Games were so disorganized that some winners died never knowing they had been Olympians.

3. 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.

4. How long the Hagia Sophia has been standing 1.5K years

   Built in just five years under Justinian, it has since served as cathedral, mosque, museum, and mosque again across nearly 1,500 years.

5. 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.

6. A photon's journey from the Sun's core to its surface 170K years

   Energy ricochets through the dense interior for on the order of 100,000 years — then crosses the void to Earth in barely eight minutes.

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