(FORTUNE Magazine) – One of the biggest events of 1991 -- the Persian Gulf war -- doesn't exactly qualify for our 11th annual roundup of hot happenings. But a related product does. The Gulf war dropped smart bombs onto public consciousness, leveling Iraqi bunkers and renewing faith in American military prowess. This year people continued their own battle of the bulge, aided by the latest fitness craze, step aerobics, and the introduction of low-fat beef burgers from ConAgra and McDonald's. And in 1991, the recession, the first since 1981, dragged on. That didn't stop Chrysler from bringing along a $50,000 sports car, one produced with Japanese-style teams, budgets, and deadlines. Americans still managed to have a modicum of fun in this year of grim realities. They played a Velcro throw-and-catch game and ducked into movie theaters, where low-budget black-genre films such as Boyz N the Hood got better reviews and bigger audiences than many of Hollywood's expensive blockbusters. Technology proceeded at its catch-your-breath pace with a breakthrough in cancer treatment, computers that can handle your handwriting, a machine that puts volumes of reference books into the palm of your hand, and a camera that's probably smarter than you are.