From JavaScript in 10 Days to the Pentagon in 491: A Catalog of History's Fastest Deliveries
CatAstro_Piyush · x · 2026-11-01
A retweeted essay (captured in screenshots) catalogs historical examples of people accomplishing ambitious things remarkably fast:
- Software: Brendan Eich built the first JavaScript prototype in 10 days; Ken Thompson wrote the first version of Unix in three weeks; Xerox Alto shipped in 1973 after a bet it could be done "in three months."
- Engineering feats: the Pentagon was finished 491 days after the decision; the Empire State Building took 410 days; 1,700 miles of the Alaska Highway were built in 234 days; Tegel airport was built in 92 days during the Berlin Airlift.
- Contrast: California high-speed rail is estimated to take 37 years from authority formation to first phase completion, and the Second Avenue Subway took 17 years for 3 stations.
Each entry includes a cited source. A classic reference collection on rapid delivery.
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