Wikipedia:Main Page history/2016 May 15

Epacris impressa, also known as common heath, is a plant of the heath family, Ericaceae, that is native to southeast Australia: the states of Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and New South Wales. French botanist Jacques Labillardière collected the species in 1793 and described it in 1805. Four forms have been identified, but no subspecies are recognised. Growing in heathland, shrubland or open forest, it is generally a small shrub around 0.5 to 1 m (1 ft 8 in – 3 ft 3 in) tall, with small stiff leaves. The red, pink or white tube-like flowers appear from late autumn to early spring. Honeyeaters, particularly the eastern spinebill, feed upon the nectar of the flowers. It regenerates after bushfire by seed or by resprouting. A pink-flowered form is the floral emblem of the state of Victoria. E. impressa is difficult to propagate reliably, which has limited its use in horticulture and revegetation. It grows best in well-drained but moist soil in a semishaded position. A highly regarded garden plant, the common heath was first cultivated in England in 1825 with over seventy named cultivars, most of which have now vanished. (Full article...)

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May 15: Pentecost (Western Christianity, 2016); Nakba Day in Palestinian communities; Constituent Assembly Day in Lithuania; Sanja Matsuri begins in Tokyo (2016)

• 392 – Roman emperor Valentinian II was found hanged in his residence in Vienne, Gaul.
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• 1916 – Jesse Washington, a teenage African-American farmhand, was lynched in Waco, Texas, US, in what became a well-known example of racially motivated lynching.
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Birdy (born 1996) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. She won the music competition Open Mic UK in 2008, at the age of 12, and her debut single, a version of Bon Iver's "Skinny Love", charted all across Europe and Australia. Her self-titled debut album, Birdy, was released on 7 November 2011 to similar success. She has since released two further albums: Fire Within (2013) and Beautiful Lies (2016).

Photograph: Harald Krichel

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