A word cloud featuring readers' submissions to the question, "What was 2011 a good year for?" NPR hide caption
It Was A Good Year For Some People, Places And Things For many, 2011 wasn't a great year. But look closely at the worlds of business and sports, music and politics, and there were also people and places that had it pretty good. In a weeklong series, we learn about the trends that shaped 2011, and why some companies — and some lab mice — have reasons to be happy.
Special Series
It Was A Good Year For...
In a special series, we learn why the glass was half full for some people, places and products.
The two "eyes" on the Anybot are actually a camera and a laser. The camera "sees," the laser points, and the person on the screen controls it all. Anybots.com hide caption
Phyllis Siegel (right) kisses her wife, Connie Kopelov, after the two exchanged vows at the Manhattan City Clerk's office. The couple were the first same-sex pair to tie the knot in New York City after the state's Marriage Equality Act went into effect on July 24. Michael Appleton/AP hide caption
Midwestern manufacturers are bouncing back — revenues are up at Chicago White Metal Casting for the second year in a row. And the company is hiring, but mainly specialists, such as die-cast machinists and the people with the skills to fix those machines. Niala Boodhoo/WBEZ hide caption
Heirloom beets served at Bibiana Restaurant in downtown Washington, D.C. Joseph Silverman/The Washington Times /Landov hide caption
Chrysler President Olivier Francois reintroduced his company to the world at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show. Scott Olson/Getty Images hide caption
Reason To Smile: Samuel Palmisano, president and CEO of IBM, walks by an IBM logo at the CeBIT technology fair in Hanover, Germany. Palmisano is set to step down later this month, and Virginia Rometty will take over on Jan. 1. Sean Gallup/Getty Images hide caption
Chris Carl, foreman of the Shelburne Limestone Corp. quarry in South Wallingford, says Vermont's weather woes helped to more than double the quarry's business. Nina Keck/Vermont Public Radio hide caption
In Vermont, Gravel And Road Business Is Up
Vermont Public
The rapper Lil B, who spread the word "swag" throughout hip-hop. Courtesy of the artist. hide caption
Skylar Grey. P.R. Brown/Courtesy of Universal Music Group hide caption
Same-sex couple Joseph and Jim pose for a photo as they wait to be officially married at the Manhattan City Clerk's Office on July 24, 2011, the first day gay couples were allowed to legally marry in New York. Getty Images hide caption
The cloud became a common term in 2011. Here, a screengrab from the Dropbox website shows how the cloud-based data storage service shares the same information on multiple devices. NPR hide caption
Novak Djokovic smiles with his U.S. Open trophy atop the Empire State Building in New York, Sept. 13, 2011. The Serbian defeated Rafael Nadal to win his first U.S. Open tennis championship and third Grand Slam trophy of 2011. Seth Wenig/AP hide caption
Two iPhone screengrabs shows Instagram's filter mode, left, and a shared photo on the app, right. iTunes hide caption
Honduran migrants deported from the United States wait to complete their paperwork as they return to their home country in August. Orlando Sierra/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Korean pop group Girls' Generation pose on the red carpet to attend the MNET Asian Music Awards ceremony in Singapore in November. AFP/AFP/Getty Images hide caption