History can be more than a dry record of politics, economics, and sociology. It can, through this handy book, tell us about ourselves and who we have been through a panorama of fascinating, provocative, amusing, or purely utilitarian objects—the tools of life. Arlette Barré-Despond points out in her Introduction to 100 DESIGNS/100 YEARS: “While, of course, other books exist on design history, the outline in this one has been clearly unraveled, written, and shown. [And] one fact is sure; objects are the testimony of who we are, speak of our quest for identity, and reveal how we live.” Even though you may be familiar with some of the objects in this book, their early births—like Cartier’s “Santos” wristwatch in 1904 and the Coca-Cola bottle in 1915—may surprise many. The canonical “Red Blue” armchair of 1918 and the “Sacco” seat of 1969 are highly recognizable objects today, but can you place them and others within the same year of other landmarks? For instance, in 1918 the electric food beater and the refrigerator appeared and women were first allowed to vote in England, and in 1969 the first humans landed on the Moon and the TV series “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” débuted. Interesting stories about these objects as well as 96 others are accompanied by a list of some of the historical milestones which have colored and altered the fastest-spaced 100 years of human endeavor—the 20th century.