Results: Short And (In Some Cases Not So) Sweet
1.
1.
The warrior who turned the Republic into a dictatorship, Julius Caesar still casts a long shadow over European history. Yet the historical Caesar spent only a fraction of his life as the supreme commander of Rome. Of the 56 years he spent on this Earth, only two were at the head of the Empire. That's right, Caesar's reign, although the stuff of legends, and countless movies, books and plays, only lasted for two years -- probably less time than it would take to watch and read all those movies, books and plays (just kidding of course, for those of you who will point out that this is not true). Are you surprised to hear that his reign was so short?
Yes
45%
•
1061 votes
No
33%
•
790 votes
Undecided
22%
•
513 votes
2.
2.
Epic battles and historical events -- and some of them barely registered a blimp in the grand scheme of time. How many of these "blink and you may have missed them" moments are you familiar with?
The 9th President of the U.S. William Henry Harrison died after just a month in office in 1841. The 68-year-old was the oldest to become president, until Ronald Reagan took office at age 69 in 1981. Harrison insisted on making an extremely lengthy inauguration speech (the longest so far) in freezing conditions while foolishly shunning a hat or coat. He contracted pneumonia—or so historians long believed—and was dead within a month. More recently it is believed the fever the president contracted as a result of the sewage-laced water in the White House was to blame.
28%
•
656 votes
Louis-Antoine of France, who very briefly became king in 1830 when his father Charles X abdicated. Louis-Antoine considered his position for 20 minutes before signing papers to confirm that he, too, was abdicating.
6%
•
138 votes
The Anglo-Zanzibar War was a military conflict fought between the United Kingdom and the Zanzibar Sultanate on August 27, 1896. The conflict lasted between 38 and 45 minutes, marking it as the shortest recorded war in history
4%
•
105 votes
Pope Urban VII died just 13 days after being appointed as pope, the shortest-ever papacy. Just a few days in office—and even before his papal coronation—Urban VII became gravely ill. After just 13 (highly successful) days, he died.
8%
•
189 votes
Nearly 300 years after his death, Blackbeard's name is still synonymous with piracy. Everything from his terrifying appearance to his romantic outlaw status continues to influence how we imagine pirates. Without him, we'd have no Treasure Island or Pirates of the Caribbean. Yet Teach's career wasn't exactly distinguished by longevity. His entire stint as captain of a pirate ship barely lasted more than a single year.
13%
•
296 votes
Alexander the Great came to the throne in 336 BC and immediately set off on a campaign of conquest. He held control of Greece, sacked Persia, claimed Egypt, and seized territory as far away as modern India. Yet it was all for nothing. From its tentative first moments to its final, dying breath, Alexander's empire lasted less than a decade. By the standards of the time, this was spectacularly poor. The Roman and Mauryan Empires all started around the same time and lasted centuries.
15%
•
364 votes
All
5%
•
116 votes
None
54%
•
1283 votes
3.
3.
Here's a short list of some other events, people or things. Which ones have you heard about prior to this survey?
Chandra Bahadur Dangi, a 75-year-old man from Nepal is 1 foot, 7 inches tall, making him the shortest adult in history.
9%
•
206 votes
An Australian mother, Mary Gorgens, wins the award for shortest labor ever after giving birth to her fifth child in two minutes flat. Amazingly, she's never been in labor for longer than two hours.
3%
•
82 votes
You Suffer is a song by the British grindcore band Napalm Death, from their debut album, Scum. The song is famous for being the shortest recorded song ever -- 1.316 seconds.
4%
•
90 votes
On 22 July 2004, Nicholas Clive McAllister (New Zealand) was acquitted of cultivating cannabis plants at a hearing that lasted just one minute. The jury left to consider the verdict at 3.28pm and returned at 3.29 pm, with a not guilty verdict.
5%
•
109 votes
Ebenezer Place, in Wick, Caithness, Scotland, is the world's shortest street at 6 ft 9 in. The street has only one address: the entrance to No. 1 Bistro, which is part of Mackays Hotel.
3%
•
75 votes
The Roe River runs from Giant Springs to the Missouri River near Great Falls, Montana, United States. The Roe River is only 201 feet long at its longest constant point.
2%
•
57 votes
All
3%
•
76 votes
None
78%
•
1852 votes
4.
4.
At the risk of making this "short" survey too long, which of these short quotes do you like?
Short people: God only lets things grow until they're perfect. Some of us didn't take as long as others! Unknown
22%
•
512 votes
A person's a person, no matter how small. Dr. Seuss
26%
•
609 votes
What?! I'm not small! It's the world that's too big!! Hiromu Arakawa
9%
•
206 votes
It's not the size of the dog in the fight, It's the size of the fight in the dog. Mark Twain
31%
•
733 votes
Happiness makes up in height what it lacks in length. Robert Frost
10%
•
248 votes
Dynimate comes in small packages. unknown
20%
•
482 votes
You can measure height. But you can't measure heart. Howie Dickenman
17%
•
407 votes
The best things come in small packages. Amirah
40%
•
943 votes
None
30%
•
711 votes
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