Submission timeline
2007–2026One slot for every year since HN launched. Height is that year's peak points; orange marks a 100+ point or 50+ comment breakout. Select a bar to open its strongest thread.
First comments on top threads
HN comment orderAlthough these short papers are fun, I think the most interesting papers are those that are both important and concise. One of my favorite examples is Josh Nash's proof of the existence of Nash Equilibria (which is a foundational concept in game theory and arguably won Nash a Nobel): http://www.pnas.org/content/36/1/48.full It's less than a full page in the original journal.
This neglects the classic paper published in The Annals of Improbable Research, The Effects of Peanut Butter on the Rotation of the Earth: https://improbable.com/airchives/classical/articles/peanut_b...
The first top-level comment from each of the four biggest threads, in HN’s own order. Excerpts are shortened; open a comment for full context.
- Breakout years
- 2
- Total points
- 649
- Total comments
- 168
100+ points or 50+ comments
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
Every submission
| Date | Title as submitted | By | Points | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-03-04 | The Shortest Papers Ever Published | lainon | 3 | 0 |
| 2017-11-14 | The Shortest Papers Ever Published (2016) | Thriptic | 1 | 0 |
| 2017-11-20 | The Shortest Papers Ever Published (2016)First breakout · Best thread | diodorus | 382 | 93 |
| 2019-07-09 | The Shortest Papers Ever Published (2016) | tosh | 6 | 0 |
| 2023-10-20 | The Shortest Papers Ever PublishedHall induction · Latest 20+ point return | archielc | 257 | 75 |