Often painted red, the torii demar¬ cates the boundary between sacred and ordinary space.
© GETTY IMAGES
Bronze triad of Shaka with attendant figures (left figure lost) in the Tori style, Asuka period, 623; in the HoryO-ji, Nara, Japan
COURTESY OF THE HORYU-JI, NARA, JAPAN
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
1924 I Torme ► Torrijos
Torme \'t6r-,ma\, Mel(vin Howard) (b. Sept. 13, 1925, Chicago, Ill., U.S.—d. June 5, 1999, Los Angeles, Calif.) U.S. singer, composer, and actor. Torme began his career playing drums and singing with Chico Marx’s band (1942-43). In 1943 he made his film debut in Higher and Higher :; the same year he formed a quintet, Mel Torme and His Mel-Tones. “Blue Moon,” which he sang in the film Words and Music (1948), became his first solo hit and one of his signature tunes. Torme was one of the great interpreters of ballads in jazz, capable of inspired improvised scat singing. As a songwriter, he is best known for “The Christmas Song.” His smooth vocal timbre is reflected in his sobriquet, “the Velvet Fog.”
tornado Violent, low-pressure storm, relatively small in diameter but with very rapidly rotating winds and an intense updraft near the centre. The relatively low pressure at the centre of a tornado’s funnel-like vor¬ tex causes cooling and condensation, making the storm visible as a revolv¬ ing column of cloud, called the funnel. Tornadoes normally travel at 30—40 mph (50-65 kph). The winds around the vortex average nearly 300 mph (500 kph) and have been known to reach 500 mph (800 kph). Tor¬ nadoes often occur in groups.
Torne River Yt6r-na\ Swedish Tornealv V.tor-ne-'elvV Northernmost river of Sweden. Issuing from Torne Lake near the Norwegian border, it flows southeast and south for 354 mi (570 km) to the Gulf of Bothnia. The lower course, strewn with rapids and mostly non-navigable, forms a sec¬ tion of the Sweden-Finland boundary. It is known for its salmon.
Toronto City (pop., 2001: city, 2,481,494; metro, area, 4,682,897), capi¬ tal of Ontario, Canada. Canada’s most populous metropolitan area, it lies on the northern shore of Lake Ontario. Originally inhabited by Seneca tribes, its site was occupied by a tiny French fort in the mid-18th century. It was founded in 1793 as York by American colonists loyal to the Brit¬ ish. U.S. troops pillaged it during the War of 1812. In 1834 it received its city charter and current name. It became the capital of Ontario in 1867. In 1953-54 it joined neighbouring villages, towns, and townships to form the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto. In 1967 those 13 municipali¬ ties were reduced to six (Toronto, Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough, York, and the borough of East York), which amalgamated to form the City of Toronto in 1998. It is Canada’s financial and commercial centre, the seat of the Toronto Stock Exchange, and a major international trading centre, with access to Atlantic shipping via the Saint Lawrence Seaway and to major U.S. ports via the Great Lakes. It produces more than half of Canada’s manufactured goods. Extensive immigration (1950s-70s) brought a variety of foreign cultures that transformed it into one of the liveliest cities on the continent. It is the site of the CN Tower (the world’s tallest self-supporting man-made structure), the Hockey Hall of Fame, and the annual Canadian National Exhibition. Its educational institutions include the University of Toronto (1827).
Toronto, University of Public university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1843 and reorganized in 1853 and 1887. It comprises nine undergraduate colleges, three formerly independent but now federated universities, four affiliated theological colleges, and numer¬ ous other academic units. It offers undergraduate, graduate, and profes¬ sional degrees in all major disciplines. Notable among its research units are centres for the study of medieval culture and society, religion, Russia and eastern Europe, international relations, drama, comparative literature, biomedical engineering, history of science and technology, and aerospace science.
Toronto Star, The Canadian newspaper, generally ranked as the coun¬ try’s largest. Established in 1892 by 25 printers who had lost their jobs in a labour dispute, it became prosperous after its purchase in 1899 by a group of leading citizens and maintained a liberal editorial outlook, press¬ ing for social change while promoting stronger Canadian nationhood and a greater presence in international affairs. It established its own radio sta¬ tion in 1922. Its outspoken opposition to Nazism made it the first North American newspaper to be banned in Nazi Germany.
torpedo Cigar-shaped, self-propelled underwater missile, launched from a submarine, surface vessel, or airplane and designed to explode on con¬ tact with the hulls of surface vessels and submarines. It contains devices to control depth and direction as well as a detonator for the explosive- filled warhead. Originally the word referred to any explosive charge, including the weapon now known as a submarine mine. The first modern torpedo (1866) carried an 18-lb (8-kg) charge of dynamite in its nose and was powered by a compressed-air engine driving a single propeller; its range was 200-700 yards (180-640 m). Torpedoes were used success¬
fully by submarines in both world wars, when many merchant ships were sunk, mostly by German U-boats. Torpedoes are now usually propelled by battery-powered electric motors.
torque or moment In physics, the tendency of a force to rotate the body to which it is applied. Torque is always specified with regard to the axis of rotation. It is equal to the magnitude of the component of the force lying in the plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation, multiplied by the shortest distance between the axis and the direction of the force compo¬ nent. Torque is the force that affects rotational motion; the greater the torque, the greater the change in this motion.
Torquemada X.tor-ka-'ma-thaV Tomas de (b. 1420, Valladolid, Castile—d. Sept. 16, 1498, Avila,
Castile) First grand inquisitor in Spain (1487-98). A Dominican prior, he became confessor and adviser to Ferdinand V and Isabella I. He guided the Spanish Inquisition, directing its persecution of Jews, Moors, and oth¬ ers identified as heretics, sorcerers, or criminals. Torture was used to obtain evidence, and about 2,000 people were burned at the stake dur¬ ing Torquemada’s tenure. He prob¬ ably influenced Ferdinand and Isabella in their decision to expel the Jews from Spain (1492). His name has become synonymous with the cruel fanaticism of the Inquisition.
Torre, Victor Raul Haya de la
See Victor Raul Haya de a Torre t . ... u ■
lorquemada, lithograph
Torres Bodet Vtor-as-bo-'detV courtesy of the bibliotecanacional, MADRID Jaime (b. April 17, 1902, Mexico
City, Mex.—d. May 13, 1974, Mexico City) Mexican poet, novelist, edu¬ cator, and statesman. He held various diplomatic and government posts, including minister of public education (1943-46) and foreign minister (1946-48). His verse, which early on revealed the influence of Modern- ismo, often returned to the themes of loneliness, a search for identity, and a longing for death. Cripta (1937) is considered to include his most impor¬ tant poems. His poetry was collected in Obra poetica (1967). Of six nov¬ els published between 1927 and 1937, Sombras (1937) is considered his best. Afflicted by cancer, he took his own life.
Torres Strait \'tor-iz\ Passage between the island of New Guinea and Australia’s Cape York Peninsula. It connects the Coral Sea and the Arafura Sea. It was discovered in 1606 by Spanish navigator Luis Vaez de Torres. About 80 mi (130 km) wide, it has many reefs, shoals, and islands, includ¬ ing the Torres Strait Islands, and is treacherous to navigate.
Torres Strait Islands Island group, in the Torres Strait between Aus¬ tralia and New Guinea. The inhabitants are a mixture of Polynesians, Melanesians, and Aboriginals. Administratively part of Queensland, Aus¬ tralia, they consist of three clusters: Western (high, rocky, and barren), Central (coral), and Eastern (volcanic, with dense vegetation); each has its own local government. The islands may be remnants of a land bridge that once linked Asia and Australia. They were annexed by Queensland in the 1870s. Pearls, fishing, and tourism are the main sources of income.