Trevino Uro-'ve-noV Lee (Buck) (b. Dec. 1, 1939, near Dallas, Tex., U.S.) U.S. golfer. Of Mexican American descent, Trevino received a grade-school education, served in the U.S. Marine Corps, and worked as an odd-job man and assistant professional at golf courses in his native Texas. In 1967 he unexpectedly came in fifth in the U.S. Open, then won it the next year. In 1971 Trevino became the first player to win the U.S., British, and Canadian Open championships in a single year. He won the British Open in 1972 and the U.S. PGA Championship in 1974. He then underwent several back surgeries but returned to win the PGA again in
Trevithick Vtrev-o-.thikX, Richard (b. April 13, 1771, Illogan, Corn¬ wall, Eng.—d. April 22, 1833, Dartford, Kent) British inventor of the first steam locomotive. With little formal education, in 1790 he became an engineer for several ore mines in Cornwall. In 1797 his experiments with high-pressure steam led him to develop a small, light engine to replace
the large, low-pressure mine engines then used for hoisting ore. In 1801 he built the first steam carriage, which he later drove in London. In 1803 he built the first steam railway locomo¬ tive for an ironworks in Wales. He abandoned his locomotive projects in 1808 because the iron rails were too fragile to carry their weight. He adapted his engine to produce the first steam dredger in 1806. In 1816 he traveled to South America to deliver engines to Peruvian silver mines, hoping to become wealthy, but returned to England in 1827 pen¬ niless.
Trevor, William orig. William Trevor Cox (b. May 24, 1928,
Mitchelstown, County Cork, Ire.)
Irish writer. Educated at Trinity Col¬ lege, Dublin, he worked as a teacher, sculptor, and advertising copywriter before moving to England to write fiction full-time. His works, noted for their exquisite characterizations and finely tuned irony, focus largely on the psychology of eccentrics and outcasts. Trevor’s second novel. The Old Boys (1964), tells the story of an “old boys” committee whose aging members plot against each other. His later novels include Felicia’s Jour¬ ney (1994) and Death in Summer (1998). He is perhaps best known for his acclaimed collections of wry and often macabre short stories.
Triad Term used variously for secret societies in Qing-dynasty China (and sometimes earlier), for modern Chinese crime gangs, and for crime gangs of other Asian nationals operating in their own countries or abroad. A secret society with the name Triad started operat¬ ing in the early 19th century in southern China, where it took root and spread. In the 1850s Triad rebellions threatened Shanghai and Xiamen (Amoy) and contributed to the revolution of 1911. Chinese secret soci¬ eties have in common the swearing of an oath to join, strict rules, a fam¬ ily relationship among members, the duty of mutual help, a hierarchy of functions, and hereditary membership within families.
triage Vtre-.azh, tre-'azh\ Division of patients for priority of care, usu¬ ally into three categories: those who will not survive even with treatment; those who will survive without treatment; and those whose survival depends on treatment. If triage is applied, the treatment of patients requir¬ ing it is not delayed by useless or unnecessary treatment of those in the other groups. Triage originated in military medicine, when limited resources faced many wounded soldiers. It is used in civilian settings dur¬ ing disasters or epidemics and in emergency rooms. Triage decisions are made after relatively quick examination; patients in lower-priority groups should be reexamined periodically.
trial In law, a judicial examination of issues of fact or law for the pur¬ pose of determining the rights of the parties involved. Attorneys for the plaintiff and the defendant make opening statements to a judge or jury, then the attorney for the plaintiff makes his case by calling witnesses, whom the defense attorney may cross-examine. Unless the case is then dismissed for lack of sufficient evidence, the defense attorney next takes a turn calling witnesses, whom the plaintiff’s attorney cross-examines. Both sides make closing arguments. In a trial before a jury, the judge instructs the jury on the applicable laws, and the jury retires to reach a verdict. If the defendant is found guilty, the judge then hands down a sen¬ tence.
trial by ordeal See ordeal
Richard Trevithick, detail of an oil painting by John Linnell, 1816; in the Science Museum, London.
COURTESY OF THE SCIENCE MUSEUM, LONDON, THE WOODCROFT BEQUEST
William Trevor, 1982.
MARK GERSON
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
1936 I triangle ► trichinosis
triangle Geometric figure with three sides and three angles. Each two sides meet at a point called a vertex, and the three angles sum to 180°. A triangle with one 90° (right) angle is a right triangle. A triangle with all sides (and thus all angles) equal is equilateral, one with two sides equal is isosceles, and one with no two sides equal is scalene. Triangles are par¬ ticularly useful in surveying, astronomy, and navigation. Two observation points (sight lines) form a triangle with a reference object serving as one vertex and the observation points as the other two. Knowing the angles of the sight lines and the distance between the observation points allows the calculation of the lengths of the other sides using the methods of TRIGONOMETRY.
Triangle Shirtwaist Co. fire (March 25, 1911) Industrial disaster that led to the enactment of many safety and labour laws. The fire, which started in the garment factory on the eighth floor of the Asch Building in New York City, resulted in the deaths of 146 people, mostly young immi¬ grant women. Fire truck ladders, then able to reach only six stories, were of little help. The sweatshop had few fire escapes, and its doors were locked to prevent theft, forcing panicked workers to leap from upper-floor windows. Public outcry also led to new fire codes and child-labour laws and greater influence for the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union.
Trianon \,tre-3-'n6n\, Treaty of (June 4, 1920) Treaty at the end of World War I between Hungary and the Allied Powers, signed at the Tri¬ anon Palace at Versailles, France. By its terms, Hungary lost two-thirds of its former territory, which was divided among Czechoslovakia, Aus¬ tria, the future Yugoslavia, and Romania. Hungary’s armed forces were restricted to 35,000 lightly armed men, to be used only to maintain inter¬ nal order.
Triassic \trl-'a-sik\ Period Interval of geologic time, c. 248-206 mil¬ lion years ago, that marks the beginning of the Mesozoic Era. Many new vertebrates emerged during the Triassic, heralding the major changes that were to occur in both terrestrial and marine life forms during the Meso¬ zoic Era. The seas became inhabited by large marine reptiles. On land, ancestral forms of various modern amphibians arose, as did reptiles such as turtles and crocodilians. By the Late Triassic, archosaurs were becom¬ ing more and more dominant, and the first true mammals, small shrew¬ like omnivores, evolved. Seed ferns dominated the flora of southern Gondwana, and gymnosperms, including conifers, cycads, and ginkgos, were common throughout much of Pangea.
triathlon Endurance contest involving swimming, cycling, and running. Triathlons originated in California in the 1970s and became an Olympic event in 2000. Olympic and world championship triathlons consist of a 1.5-km open water swim, a 40-km bicycle ride, and a 10-km run. The sport’s most famous event, the Ironman triathlon, is held annually in Hawaii and consists of a 3.8-km (2.4-mi) swim, a 180-km (112-mi) bicycle ride, and a 42.2-km (26.2-mi) marathon run.