The alarm clock. The personal computer. The smartphone. The radio. You know the greatest gadgets of all time (and you’ve probably owned most of them), but which has changed the world more than any other? To make our list of 101, a gadget had to be something you could hold in your hands, mechanical or electronic, and a mass-produced personal item. The rest was up to the judges. Check out our selections.
Writing
Judges' criteria is deliciously arbitrary and petty.
Production
Gleeful reenactments of people discovering zippers.
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This aired on History Channel's 'The Ultimate' series, peak 2000s listicle television before streaming took over.
The 2011 air date means it predates widespread tablets, smartwatches, and voice assistants—making its future-blindness almost archaeological.
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