1991

1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (dominical letter F) of the Gregorian calendar, the 1991st year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 991st year of the 2nd millennium, the 91st year of the 20th century, and the 2nd year of the 1990s decade.

It was the year that is usually considered the final year of the Cold War that had begun in the late 1940s. During the year, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics collapsed into fifteen sovereign republics. India also abandoned its policies of socialism and autarky and began extensive neoliberal changes to its economy in July 1991 which would increase the GDP but also economic inequality over the next two decades. A U.N.-authorized coalition force from thirty-four nations fought against Iraq, which had invaded Kuwait in the previous year, 1990. The conflict would be called the Gulf War and would mark the beginning of a since-constant American military presence in the Middle East. The clash between Serbia and the other Yugoslav republics would lead into the beginning of the Yugoslav Wars, which ran through the rest of the decade.

Street Fighter

Street Fighter (ストリートファイター, Sutorīto Faitā), commonly abbreviated as SF or スト, is a fighting game franchise by Capcom. The game's playable characters originate from different countries around the world, each with his or her own unique fighting style. It is Capcom's second best-selling franchise, having significant success worldwide. With its first game released in 1987 and the game has evolved through the years as well as through its many iterations, remains one of the most popular video games today.

History

Video games

Street Fighter (1987)

Street Fighter, designed by Takashi Nishiyama and Hiroshi Matsumoto, made its debut in arcades, in 1987. In this game, the player takes control of martial artist Ryu, who competes in a worldwide martial arts tournament, spanning five countries and 10 opponents. A second player can join in at any time and take control of Ryu's American rival, Ken.

The player can perform three types of punch and kick attacks, each varying in speed and strength, and three special attacks: the Hadouken, Shoryuken, and Tatsumaki Senpukyaku. These are performed by executing special button combinations with the controls.

Top Gear

Top Gear and similar may refer to the following:

Television productions

Video games

Street Fighter II: The World Warrior

Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (Japanese: ストリートファイターⅡ -The World Warrior-) is a competitive fighting game originally released for the arcades in 1991. It is the second entry in the Street Fighter series and the arcade sequel to the original Street Fighter released in 1987. It is Capcom's fourteenth title that runs on the CP System arcade hardware. Street Fighter II improves upon the many concepts introduced in the first game, including the use of command-based special moves and a six-button configuration, while offering players a selection of multiple playable characters, each with their own unique fighting style, and introducing a combo system and competitive multiplayer combat between two players.

The success of Street Fighter II is credited for starting the fighting game boom during the 1990s which inspired other game developers to produce their own fighting game franchises, popularizing the genre, and setting off a renaissance for the arcade game industry in the early 1990s. It was then ported to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System home console, for which it became a long-lasting system-seller. Its success led to a sub-series of updated versions (see below), each offering additional features and characters over previous versions, as well as several home versions.

Grand Tour

The Grand Tour was the traditional trip of Europe undertaken by mainly upper-class European young men of means, or those of more humble origin who could find a sponsor. The custom flourished from about 1660 until the advent of large-scale rail transport in the 1840s, and was associated with a standard itinerary. It served as an educational rite of passage. Though primarily associated with the British nobility and wealthy landed gentry, similar trips were made by wealthy young men of Protestant Northern European nations on Continental Europe, and from the second half of the 18th century, by some South and North Americans. The tradition declined with the lapse of neo-classical enthusiasm and after rail and steamship travel made the journeys much easier when Thomas Cook made the "Cook's Tour" of early mass tourism a byword.

The New York Times in 2008 described the Grand Tour in this way:

The primary value of the Grand Tour, it was believed, lay in the exposure both to the cultural legacy of classical antiquity and the Renaissance, and to the aristocratic and fashionably polite society of the European continent. In addition, it provided the only opportunity to view specific works of art, and possibly the only chance to hear certain music. A Grand Tour could last from several months to several years. It was commonly undertaken in the company of a Cicerone, a knowledgeable guide or tutor. The Grand Tour had more than superficial cultural importance; as E. P. Thompson stated, "ruling-class control in the 18th century was located primarily in a cultural hegemony, and only secondarily in an expression of economic or physical (military) power."