Life without smartphones, light bulbs or the Crescent wrench? Unthinkable! From alarm clocks to zippers, the most important gizmos of all time take the spotlight in...

101 GADGETS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD

HISTORY(R) Partners with Popular Mechanics Magazine in Homage to Human Ingenuity, Premiering Wednesday, June 15 at 9 p.m.

New York, May 31, 2011 - The gadget: It's small enough to hold in your hands. It's mechanical or electronic, and mass-produced. It's a personal item that evolves from novelty to necessity - and ultimately shows its paradigm-shifting power.

In 101 GADGETS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD, a new two-hour special premiering Wednesday, June 15 at 9 p.m. ET on HISTORY, the editors of Popular Mechanics and a panel of experts join forces with HISTORY to rank the most influential inventions of the past 200 years and tell the surprising stories behind them.

There's much more to these everyday gizmos than meets the eye. Take the blender, for instance. Yes, it can make a mean margarita, but it also helped Jonas Salk create the polio vaccine. And then there's the safety razor. It's a personal grooming device, but also a life-saver: It allowed World War I soldiers to remove their facial hair so gas masks would fit snugly and work properly. As viewers will discover, these and the other 99 gadgets ranked in this fascinating special qualify as modern conveniences, but they've also played a significant role in shaping history.

Popular Mechanics assembled a panel of leading technology specialists to generate this definitive list of high-impact innovations. Among those appearing in 101 GADGETS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD: the magazine's editor-in-chief Jim Meigs and senior technology editor Glenn Derene, Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, New York Times technology reporter David Pogue, and authorities on everything from design to crime.

Popular Mechanics, which has covered the march of technology for over a century, will devote its July issue, as well as its July iPad edition, to an in-depth look at 101 Gadgets. "We reached out to our contributors and contacts," Meigs says. "Then we spent weeks tabulating their votes, analyzing the rankings and doing further research. Of course, people will have their own opinions about the final rankings, but in the end, this list represents a consensus of some of the smartest technology minds of our day."

101 GADGETS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD is produced for HISTORY by JWM Productions. Bill Morgan and Jason Williams are Executive Producers for JWM Productions. David Dunbar, Executive Editor, Popular Mechanics is Consulting Producer. Carl H. Lindahl is Executive Producer for HISTORY.

HISTORY(R) and HISTORY HD(R) are the leading destinations for revealing, award-winning original non-fiction series and event specials that connect history with viewers in an informative, immersive and entertaining manner across multiple platforms. Programming covers a diverse variety of historical genres ranging from military history to contemporary history, technology to natural history, as well as science, archaeology and pop culture. Among the network's program offerings are hit series such as American Pickers, Ax Men, Brad Meltzer's Decoded, Ice Road Truckers, Top Gear, Pawn Stars and Top Shot, as well as acclaimed specials including America the Story of Us, WWII in HD, 102 Minutes That Changed America, The President's Book of Secrets and Life After People. HISTORY has earned four Peabody Awards, seven Primetime Emmy(R) Awards, 12 News & Documentary Emmy(R) Awards and received the prestigious Governor's Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for the network's Save Our History(R) campaign dedicated to historic preservation and history education. Take a Veteran to School Day is the network's signature initiative connecting America's schools and communities with veterans from all wars. The HISTORY website, located at www.history.com, is the leading online resource for all things history, featuring over 20,000 videos, images, audio clips, articles and interactive features that allow visitors to dig deeper into a broad range of thousands of historical topics.

Popular Mechanics empowers readers to navigate the increasingly complex, technological world around us. The magazine, published monthly by Hearst Magazines, inspires, instructs and influences nine million curious readers. Their mindset - the hunger to know, the desire to investigate and learn - drives them to explore, experiment and experience a wide range of interests. Issues engage readers with breakthroughs in the latest innovations in science and technology; educates with informative "how-to" stories on automotive, the home and digital technology; and motivates action with product reviews and comparison tests of the newest equipment and products. Popular Mechanics is also the #1-ranked men's monthly magazine when it comes to reaching an environmentally conscious audience. The brand is a 21st-century must-read, with a robust Web site (popularmechanics.com) and an award-winning tablet edition.