tom-tom, name popularly applied to high-pitched hand drums, usually barrel-shaped and having either one or two drumheads of skin. They are tunable to specific pitches. Supposedly of Native American or Asian origin, they are sometimes used in modern dance orchestras for special effects. The terms tom-tom and tam-tam are sometimes confused; the latter is another name for the gong.

Wolfe, Tom (Thomas Kennerly Wolfe, Jr.), 1931-, American journalist and novelist, b. Richmond, Va. Wolfe first gained fame for his studies of contemporary American culture in a style known as New Journalism, which combined personal impressions and opinions, reconstructed dialogue, slang, and academic jargon. His journalistic works include The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby (1965), The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (1968), Radical Chic and Mau-mauing the Flak Catchers (1970), The Right Stuff (1975), From Bauhaus to Our House (1981), and the anthology Hooking Up (2000). He has also written novels: The Bonfire of the Vanities (1987), a satiric look at a New York City torn by race and class; A Man in Full (1998), the saga of an Atlanta millionaire and a tellingly comic portrait of the New South; and I Am Charlotte Simmons (2004), a glimpse at randy contemporary collegians.

Watson, Tom (Thomas Sturges Watson), 1949-, American golfer, b. Kansas City, Mo. Considered the successor to Jack Nicklaus as the game's foremost player in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Watson won the British Open in 1975, 1977, 1980, 1982, and 1987, the Masters in 1977 and 1981, the U.S. Open in 1982, and the Senior Tour Championship in 2000.

Tom Thumb, 1838-83, American entertainer, whose original name was Charles Sherwood Stratton, b. Bridgeport, Conn. His career as General Tom Thumb began in 1842, when the showman P. T. Barnum gave him the title and arranged with the child's parents for his exhibition as a midget. His height then was less than 2 ft (61 cm), and at no time did it exceed 33 in. (84 cm). Barnum aroused the intense curiosity of people throughout the world by consummately skillful publicity and profitably displayed the general in many countries, bringing Tom Thumb wealth and fame. At the age of 10 the general had already been the guest of President Polk, Queen Victoria, Isabella of Spain, and King Louis Philippe of France. His courtship of Lavinia Warren, a dwarf, led to a fashionable wedding in New York's Grace Church in 1863. In the course of their wedding trip President Lincoln received them at the White House. Thumb and his wife continued to entertain audiences in the United States and abroad until their retirement in 1882. He died at the age of 45, and Mrs. Tom Thumb died at 77.

Tom, river, c.525 mi (840 km) long, rising in the Alatau range, S Siberian Russia. It flows N through the Kuznetsk Basin past Novokuznetsk, Kemerovo, and Tomsk into the Ob River. It is navigable from Novokuznetsk.

Thomson, Tom, 1877-1917, Canadian painter of typically Canadian outdoor scenes, b. Ontario. Thomson was self-taught. Most of the year he served as a guide at Algonquin Provincial Park in order to support himself as a painter. His love of the outdoors was reflected in bold, vibrantly colored landscapes, such as A Northern Lake (National Gall., Ottawa). Thomson was mysteriously drowned in the summer of 1917.

Taylor, Tom, 1817-80, English dramatist and editor. His most famous play is Our American Cousin (1858), performed at Ford's Theater in Washington, D. C., when Lincoln was assassinated. Of his more than 100 plays, others are The Ticket-of-Leave Man (1863) and, written with his friend Charles Reade, Masks and Faces (1852). He edited B. R. Haydon's autobiography (1853, new ed. 1926) and was editor of Punch from 1874 to 1880.

Stoppard, Tom, 1937-, English playwright, b. Zlín, Czechoslovakia (now in the Czech Republic), as Tomas Straussler. During his childhood he and his family moved to Singapore, later (1946) settling in Bristol, England, where he became a journalist. In 1960 he moved to London, where he became a theater critic and wrote radio plays. He first gained prominence with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1967), a witty drama about peripheral characters in Shakespeare's Hamlet. Stoppard is noted for his idiosyncratic style, artful and complex construction, deft parody, profound intellectuality, wide-ranging knowledge, and ability to find significance in wordplay and bizarre juxtapositions of language and character. In Travesties (1974), for example, James Joyce, Lenin, and Tristan Tzara collaborate on a production of Oscar Wilde's play The Importance of Being Earnest.

Many critics consider his Jumpers (1973), a play that includes gymnastics, murder, song, dance, and ethical discussion, and Arcadia (1993), a drama that takes place in both 1809 and the early 1990s and is centered on a 19th-century mathematical prodigy and a 20th-century literary scholar, his finest works. Stoppard's other plays include The Real Inspector Hound (1968); Dirty Linen (1976); The Real Thing (1982); Hapgood (1988); Indian Ink (1995); The Invention of Love (1997); and Rock 'n' Roll (2006). One of his most complex and acclaimed later works, the trilogy The Coast of Utopia (2002), explores the roots of the Russian Revolution via six late 19th-century intellectuals and their associates and spans 35 years.

Stoppard is also a skilled screenwriter; he was a main scriptwriter for Brazil (1985) and Empire of the Sun (1987), and won particular acclaim for his Shakespeare in Love (1998, with Marc Norman). He has also has written for television, and is the author of a novel, Lord Malaquist and Mr. Moon (1966), and short stories.

Seaver, Tom, 1944-, American baseball pitcher and sportscaster, b. Fresno, Calif. During his career (1967-86), he won a total of 311 games for the New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds, Chicago White Sox, and Boston Red Sox. He was 1967 Rookie of the Year and won the National League Cy Young Award three times (1969, 1973, and 1975). He retired ranked third on the all-time strikeout list (3,640) and was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992.

Ridge, Tom (Thomas Joseph Ridge), 1945-, U.S. politician and government official, first secretary of the Dept. of Homeland Security (2003-5), b. Munhall, Pa. A graduate of Harvard (1967) and the Dickinson School of Law (1972) who served (1968-70) in the infantry in Vietnam, Ridge worked in private law practice and became active in the Republican party. In 1982 he was elected to the House of Representatives from Pennsylvania and served six terms. Elected governor of his home state in 1994, he was in his second term when President George W. Bush asked him to head the Office of Homeland Security in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks (see Pentagon, the; World Trade Center). Chosen to head the newly established Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2003, Ridge oversaw the integration of the 22 agencies that were consolidated and reorganized in the DHS.

Mann, Tom, 1856-1941, British labor leader and socialist. He was an organizer of the 1889 London dock strike, which was an important step in the unionization of unskilled English laborers. Secretary (1894-97) of the Independent Labour party, he helped to organize (1902) the Labour party in Australia. Mann returned from Australia a proponent of syndicalism, and he was one of the founders (1920) of the British Communist party. He was jailed several times for his radical activities.

Kite, Tom (Thomas O. Kite, Jr.), 1949-, American golfer, b. Austin, Tex. The 1973 Professional Golfers Association Rookie of the Year, he was also the 1989 Player of the Year. He won the 1992 U.S. Open, and was a member of the 1993 U.S. Ryder Cup team. The 1981 winner of the Vardon Trophy (for the lowest stroke average), he led the PGA in earnings that year and from 1989 through 1994 was the career earnings leader.

Johnson, Tom Loftin, 1854-1911, American municipal reformer, mayor of Cleveland (1901-10), b. Georgetown, Ky. He acquired a substantial fortune from streetcar and steel interests, and, deeply influenced in the 1880s by the writings of Henry George, he devoted himself to reform. After two terms (1891-95) as a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives, he became (1901) mayor of Cleveland, serving four terms. He fought strenuous battles for municipal reform against political bosses (especially Mark Hanna) and business interests. Although his plans for municipal ownership of public utilities were not realized, he helped create civic consciousness in Cleveland, initiated sanitary measures, and improved facilities to help the city's poor. Cleveland, in the time of Johnson's mayoralty, was called "the best governed city in the United States."

Hanks, Tom, 1956-, American film actor famous for his roles as an amiable American everyman, b. Concord, Calif., as Thomas Jeffrey Hanks. In 1980 he acted in his first film, and in 1980-82 he co-starred in a television sitcom. Hanks subsequently appeared in numerous Hollywood comedies, among them Splash (1984), Big (1988), the baseball-themed A League of Their Own (1992), and the romantic comedy Sleepless in Seattle (1993). He turned to serious drama in Philadelphia (1993), receiving an Academy Award for his portrayal of an AIDS-stricken gay lawyer, and won a second Oscar for his performance in the title role of the box-office smash Forest Gump (1994). His later films include Apollo 13 (1995), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Cast Away (2000), The Terminal (2004), The Da Vinci Code (2006), and Charlie Wilson's War (2007). Hanks wrote, directed, and played in the film That Thing You Do! (1996), has voiced characters in several animated features, and has produced and directed television miniseries.

DeLay, Tom (Thomas Dale DeLay), 1947-, American politician, b. Laredo, Tex., grad. Univ. of Houston (B.S., 1970). A conservative Republican businessman, he entered politics (1979) as a Texas state legislator, serving until 1984, when he was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. He rose quickly in House Republican ranks, becoming majority whip in 1995, and gaining a reputation for his exceptional fund-raising abilities. When Rep. Dennis Hastert was elected Speaker in 1999, many saw DeLay, who aquired the nickname "the Hammer" because of his strong, sometimes unsubtle efforts to assure and enforce party control of the House, as the greater force among House Republicans. His political tactics, however, have also led to several admonishments from the House ethics committee.

DeLay has been a leading voice for reduced Social Security and capital gains taxes, for the protection of business and free trade, and for deregulation in many areas of American life. He has also expressed opposition to gun control while leading attacks on various aspects of modern culture, indicting such perceived evils as birth control, evolutionary theory, and day care. During the Lewinsky scandal, he led the successful effort to impeach President Bill Clinton, and he worked behind the scenes to orchestrate demonstrations opposing a recount in Florida in the 2000 presidential election. DeLay became House majority leader in 2003. In 2005 he was charged with conspiracy to circumvent Texas restrictions on campaign contributions and money laundering; because of the indictment he temporarily resigned the majority leader's post. The circumvention charge was subsequently dismissed, but in 2006, under pressure, he made his resignation as majority leader permanent and subsequently resigned from Congress.

Daschle, Tom (Thomas Andrew Daschle), 1947-, U.S. senator from South Dakota (1987-2005), b. Aberdeen, S.Dak. A Democrat, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1978, where he served four terms; he was first elected to the Senate in 1986. A low-key centrist with a reputation as a skillful negotiator, Daschle was a supporter of farm subsidies and acted as the coordinator of the failed effort to pass President Bill Clinton's comprehensive health-care bill in 1994. He subsequently continued to advocate the regulation of managed care, a patients' bill of rights, and prescription drug benefits under Medicare. Daschle served as Senate minority leader (1995-2001, 2003-2005) and majority leader (2001-3), but he failed to win reelection to the Senate in 2004.

Clark, Tom Campbell, 1899-1977, U.S. Attorney General (1945-49), associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1949-67), b. Dallas, Tex.; father of Ramsey Clark. He received his law degree from the Univ. of Texas. Clark joined the Justice Dept. (1937) as a special assistant to the attorney general. He coordinated the forced wartime relocation of West Coast Japanese-Americans and headed the antitrust division before becoming Attorney General in 1945. He was noted for vigorous enforcement of antitrust laws and the introduction of the attorney general's list of subversive political organizations. He was appointed (Aug., 1949) by President Harry S. Truman to the Supreme Court bench as successor to Frank Murphy. Although his opinions on the court were generally conservative in the matter of alleged subversives, he was a frequent supporter of civil liberties. In a 1963 decision he wrote the majority opinion prohibiting the reading of the Bible in public schools. Clark retired from the court in 1967 after his son, Ramsey, was named U.S. attorney general.

Brady, Tom (Thomas Edward Patrick Brady, Jr.), 1977-, American football player, b. San Mateo, Calif. He attended the Univ. of Michigan (1995-99), where he was co-starting quarterback (1998-99) and led the team to win the 1999 Orange Bowl. Drafted by the New England Patriots in 2000, Brady replaced the injured Drew Bledsoe in a Sept., 2001, game and became the team's starting quarterback. Canny, strong, and steady, with an accurate arm, Brady has led the Pats to three Super Bowl victories (2002, 2004-5) and was named that game's most valuable player twice (2002, 2004). In 2007, he marshaled New England's offense to what often seemed an inevitable undefeated regular season and was named the National Football League's MVP, but he failed to win the Super Bowl. Brady also passed for 50 touchdowns in 2007, breaking Peyton Manning's single-season record.

Bradley, Tom (Thomas Bradley), 1917-98, African-American politician, b. Calvert, Tex. A sharecropper's son who became (1940) a Los Angeles police officer, he earned (1956) a law degree from Southwestern Law School and entered (1961) private practice. A Los Angeles city councilman (1963-73), he was elected the city's first black mayor in 1973. A liberal Democrat, he was reelected four times and served until 1993, during a period of Los Angeles's expansion. He ran unsuccessfully for governor of California in 1982 and 1986.

Black Tom, part of Jersey City, N.J., also called Black Tom Island. In July, 1916, German saboteurs demolished U.S. munitions stores there; in Jan., 1917, they destroyed the Kingsland, N.J., munitions plant. Sued by the U.S. government in 1922 but vindicated in 1930 by an international claims commission, the German government, upon hearings in 1939, was ultimately ordered to pay $50 million in damages.

orig. Thomas Kennerly Wolfe, Jr.

(born March 2, 1930, Richmond, Va., U.S.) U.S. journalist and novelist. He earned a doctorate from Yale University and then wrote for newspapers and worked as a magazine editor, becoming known as a proponent of New Journalism, the application of fiction-writing techniques to journalism. The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (1968) chronicles the life of a traveling group of hippies. The Right Stuff (1979; film, 1983) examines the first U.S. astronaut program. Other controversial nonfiction books attacked fashionable 1960s leftism, modern abstract art, and international architectural styles. His novel The Bonfire of the Vanities (1987; film, 1990), a novel of urban greed and corruption, was a best seller. Wolfe's later works include the novels A Man in Full (1998) and I Am Charlotte Simmons (2004).

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orig. Thomas Kennerly Wolfe, Jr.

(born March 2, 1930, Richmond, Va., U.S.) U.S. journalist and novelist. He earned a doctorate from Yale University and then wrote for newspapers and worked as a magazine editor, becoming known as a proponent of New Journalism, the application of fiction-writing techniques to journalism. The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (1968) chronicles the life of a traveling group of hippies. The Right Stuff (1979; film, 1983) examines the first U.S. astronaut program. Other controversial nonfiction books attacked fashionable 1960s leftism, modern abstract art, and international architectural styles. His novel The Bonfire of the Vanities (1987; film, 1990), a novel of urban greed and corruption, was a best seller. Wolfe's later works include the novels A Man in Full (1998) and I Am Charlotte Simmons (2004).

Learn more about Wolfe, Tom with a free trial on Britannica.com.

orig. Tomas Straussler

(born July 3, 1937, Zlín, Czech.) Czech-born British playwright. After living in East Asia with his family during World War II, he moved to England and adopted his stepfather's surname. His first play, A Walk on the Water, was televised in 1963, and he won fame with the absurdist Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1966; film, 1990). His later plays, marked by verbal brilliance, ingenious plotting, and a playful interest in pivotal historical moments, include Jumpers (1972), Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (1977; with music by André Previn), The Real Thing (1982), and Arcadia (1993). He has also written radio plays and screenplays for films such as Empire of the Sun (1987) and Shakespeare in Love (1998, Academy Award). Stoppard was knighted in 1997.

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orig. Thomas Joseph Mboya

(born Aug. 15, 1930, Kilima Mbogo, near Nairobi, Kenya—died July 5, 1969, Nairobi) Kenyan political leader. During the Mau Mau rebellion (1952–56) and the period leading up to Kenyan independence (1963), the Oxford-educated Mboya headed the Kenya Federation of Labour. In 1960 he helped found the dominant Kenyan African National Union Party (KANU). After independence he served in top administrative posts in Jomo Kenyatta's government. His assassination in 1969 shocked the nation and exacerbated tensions between the dominant Kikuyu and other ethnic groups, especially Mboya's own Luo.

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orig. Thomas J. Hanks

(born July 9, 1956, Concord, Calif., U.S.) U.S. film actor. He displayed a flair for light comedy in the television series Bosom Buddies (1980–82) and then became a film star in the comedies Splash (1984) and Big (1988). After winning praise for A League of Their Own (1992) and the romantic hit Sleepless in Seattle (1993), he proved himself an accomplished dramatic actor in Philadelphia (1993, Academy Award), Forrest Gump (1994, Academy Award), Apollo 13 (1995), Saving Private Ryan (1998), and Cast Away (2000). His later films include Road to Perdition (2002), The Da Vinci Code (2006), and Charlie Wilson's War (2007). He made his debut as a director and screenwriter with That Thing You Do (1996).

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(born Dec. 29, 1917, Calvert, Texas, U.S.—died Sept. 29, 1998, Los Angeles, Calif.) Mayor of Los Angeles (1973–93). The son of a sharecropper, he moved with his family to Los Angeles when he was seven and endured poverty after his father abandoned the family. In 1940 he began a 22-year tenure with the city's police department, during which he earned a law degree (1956) by attending night school. In 1963 he became the city's first African American council member, and in 1973 he was elected one of the country's first two African American mayors of a major city (with Coleman Young of Detroit). During five terms as mayor, he helped transform Los Angeles into a bustling business and trading centre, overseeing massive growth and hosting the 1984 Olympic Games. He retired in 1992 after the city was consumed by riots following the acquittal of police officers in the beating of African American motorist Rodney King.

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orig. Tomas Straussler

(born July 3, 1937, Zlín, Czech.) Czech-born British playwright. After living in East Asia with his family during World War II, he moved to England and adopted his stepfather's surname. His first play, A Walk on the Water, was televised in 1963, and he won fame with the absurdist Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1966; film, 1990). His later plays, marked by verbal brilliance, ingenious plotting, and a playful interest in pivotal historical moments, include Jumpers (1972), Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (1977; with music by André Previn), The Real Thing (1982), and Arcadia (1993). He has also written radio plays and screenplays for films such as Empire of the Sun (1987) and Shakespeare in Love (1998, Academy Award). Stoppard was knighted in 1997.

Learn more about Stoppard, Sir Tom with a free trial on Britannica.com.

orig. Thomas Joseph Mboya

(born Aug. 15, 1930, Kilima Mbogo, near Nairobi, Kenya—died July 5, 1969, Nairobi) Kenyan political leader. During the Mau Mau rebellion (1952–56) and the period leading up to Kenyan independence (1963), the Oxford-educated Mboya headed the Kenya Federation of Labour. In 1960 he helped found the dominant Kenyan African National Union Party (KANU). After independence he served in top administrative posts in Jomo Kenyatta's government. His assassination in 1969 shocked the nation and exacerbated tensions between the dominant Kikuyu and other ethnic groups, especially Mboya's own Luo.

Learn more about Mboya, Tom with a free trial on Britannica.com.

orig. Thomas J. Hanks

(born July 9, 1956, Concord, Calif., U.S.) U.S. film actor. He displayed a flair for light comedy in the television series Bosom Buddies (1980–82) and then became a film star in the comedies Splash (1984) and Big (1988). After winning praise for A League of Their Own (1992) and the romantic hit Sleepless in Seattle (1993), he proved himself an accomplished dramatic actor in Philadelphia (1993, Academy Award), Forrest Gump (1994, Academy Award), Apollo 13 (1995), Saving Private Ryan (1998), and Cast Away (2000). His later films include Road to Perdition (2002), The Da Vinci Code (2006), and Charlie Wilson's War (2007). He made his debut as a director and screenwriter with That Thing You Do (1996).

Learn more about Hanks, Tom with a free trial on Britannica.com.