cavy Vka-ve\ Any of several species of South American rodents consti¬ tuting the family Caviidae. Species in the genera Cavia, Kerodon, Galea, and Microcavia resemble the guinea PIG. They are stout, gray or brown, and 10-12 in. (25-30 cm) long, with short ears and legs and no visible tail.
The Patagonian and salt desert cav- ies ( Dolichotis) are more long- legged and rabbitlike. Cavies are social animals found in various habi¬ tats, including plains, marshes, and rocky areas. They live in burrows (which sometimes weaken the ground above so much that it col¬ lapses when walked on), and they feed on grass, leaves, and other vegetation.
Cawnpore See Kanpur
Caxton, William (b. c. 1422, Kent, Eng.—d. 1491, London) First British printer. He was a prosperous mercer when he began to translate French literature and learn printing. He set up a press in Belgium and published his translation The Recuyell of the Historyes ofTroye (1475), the first book printed in English. Returning to England, he set up another press and produced the first dated book printed in English, Dictes and Sayenges of the Phylosophers (1477). His varied output—about 100 items, including books on chivalric romance, morality, and history and an encyclopaedia that was the first illustrated English book (1481)—shows that he catered to a general public as well as to wealthy patrons.
Cayce \'ka-se\, Edgar (b. March 18, 1877, near Hopkinsville, Ky., U.S.—d. Jan. 3, 1945, Virginia Beach, Va.) U.S. faith healer. He received little formal education. He began his cures in the 1920s, often accom¬ plishing them long-distance. In 1925 he settled in Virginia Beach, Va., where he established a hospital (1928) and the Association for Research and Enlightenment (1931). He also made prophecies (including of the destruction of New York City and California) and claimed to be able to recall past lives. He believed in the existence of a great civilization in Atlantis some 12,000 years ago.
Cayenne \k!-'en\ Seaport (pop., 1999: 50,594), capital of French Gui¬ ana. The city was founded by the French in 1643 on northwestern Cay¬ enne Island, which is formed by the estuaries of the Cayenne and Mahury rivers. In the mid-19th century it became a centre of French penal settle¬ ments in Guiana and was known as the “city of the condemned” (see Dev¬ ils Island). The prisons were closed in 1945.
Patagonian cavy, or mara (Dolichotis patagona).
GEORGE HOLTON-PHOTO RESEARCHERS
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Cayley ► Cecilia I 357
Cayley, Sir George (b. Dec. 27, 1773, Scarborough, Yorkshire, Eng.—d. Dec. 15, 1857, Brompton, Yorkshire) British pioneer of aerial navigation and founder of the science of aerodynamics. By 1799 he had established the basic configuration of the modern airplane. He built his first model glider in 1804, and in 1809 he published his groundbreaking aerodynamic research. Further research into the effects of streamlining, stability, and wing design led to his construction of the first full-size glider, which flew briefly in 1853. Cayley also invented the caterpillar tractor (1825) and founded a polytechnic school in London (1839).
Cayman Islands British overseas territory (pop., 2005 est.: 47,000), Caribbean Sea. Located about 180 mi (290 km) northwest of Jamaica, it has a total land area of 118 sq mi (306 sq km). The islands include Grand Cayman (the largest and the location of the capital, George Town), Little Cayman, and Cayman Brae. Though discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1503, the islands were never occupied by the Spanish. Ceded to the British in 1670, they were subsequently settled by the English arriving from Jamaica. The islands were administered as a dependency of Jamaica until Jamaican independence in 1962; a constitution was enacted in 1972. The governor of the Cayman Islands is appointed by the British crown. The islands are a popular tourist area and a financial centre.
CBS Television Network Major U.S. broadcasting company and net¬ work. It began in 1928 as the Columbia Broadcasting System, a small radio network directed by William S. Paley. By offering programming free to affiliated stations in return for their agreement to broadcast sponsored shows, Paley built the network from 22 stations to 114 in 10 years. Such stars as Fred Allen, Bing Crosby, and Kate Smith increased audience ratings into the 1940s. Jack Benny, Ed Sullivan, Lucille Ball, Mary Tyler Moore, and Walter Cronkite made CBS the dominant television network into the 1970s. The company diversified into several other fields, but only Colum¬ bia Records was successful, and the corporation sold all its other divi¬ sions in 1985 to concentrate on broadcasting. A decline in ratings and in the number of affiliated stations led to its sale to Westinghouse Electric Corp. in 1995. CBS Corp. was purchased by Viacom Inc. in 2000.
ccc See Civilian Conservation Corps
CCD in full charge-coupled device Semiconductor device in which the individual semiconductor components are connected so that the elec¬ trical charge at the output of one device provides the input to the next device. Because they can store electrical charges, CCDs can be used as memory devices, but they are slower than RAMs. CCDs are sensitive to light, and are therefore used as the light-detecting components in video and digital cameras and in optical scanners.
CD See certificate of deposit CD See compact disc
CD-ROM in full compact disc read-only memory Type of com¬ puter storage medium that is read optically (e.g., by a laser). A CD-ROM drive uses a low-power laser beam to read digitized (binary) data that have been encoded onto an optical disc in the form of tiny pits, then feeds the data to a computer for processing. Because it uses digital data, a CD-ROM can store images and sound in addition to text and is thus used in video and audio devices to store music, graphics, and movies (see compact disc). Unlike conventional magnetic- storage technologies (e.g., hard disks), CD-ROM drives cannot write information (that is, accept the input of new data), hence the tag “read¬ only.” Recordable compact discs (called CD-R) must be written on a CD-R recorder and can be played on any CD-ROM drive.
CDC See Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Ceausescu\chau-'shes-kii\,Nico-
lae (b. Jan. 26, 1918, Scornice§ti,
Rom.—d. Dec. 25, 1989, near Bucharest) Romanian politician.
Prominent in the Romanian Commu¬ nist Party, in 1965 he succeeded Ghe- orghe Gheorghiu-Dej as the party’s leader. In 1967 he became head of
state and in 1974 president of Romania. He charted an independent, nationalistic course but also maintained rigidly repressive controls over free speech and internal dissent. His harsh economic policies and grand building projects reduced Romania from relative prosperity to near star¬ vation. He was overthrown in a revolution in 1989, and, after a hasty trial, he and his wife were executed by firing squad.
Cebu \sa-'bu\ Island (pop., 2000 : 2,377,588) and (with adjacent islets) province, central Philippines. It is 139 mi (224 km) long and about 20 mi (32 km) wide, with an area of 1,707 sq mi (4,421 sq km). Its chief city is Cebu City. A mountain chain extends its entire length. It is separated from Bohol Island by Bohol Strait and from Negros Island by Tanon Strait. Visited by Ferdinand Magellan in 1521, it was occupied by the Spanish in 1565. It is one of the Philippines’ most densely populated islands; it produces coal and copper.
Cebu City City (pop., 2000: 718,821), capital of Cebu province, Phil¬ ippines. Located on the eastern coast of Cebu Island, it is the oldest Span¬ ish city in the Philippines. It possesses an excellent harbour, sheltered by Mactan Island. Attracted by Cebu’s focal position, Ferdinand Magellan landed there in 1521 and converted the ruler to Christianity; in a later war expedition on the ruler’s behalf, Magellan was killed on Mactan Island. Occupied by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi in 1565, it was until 1571 the capital of Spanish possessions in the Philippines. It remained the primary Spanish bastion in the south and had prominent roles in insurrections against both Spain and the U.S. Having recovered from heavy damage sustained in World War II, Cebu City is now a cultural and commercial centre.