Wikipedia:Main Page history/2013 February 24

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From today's featured article

Persoonia levis, commonly known as the broad-leaved geebung, is a shrub native to New South Wales and Victoria in eastern Australia. It was first collected by Luis Née in the vicinity of Port Jackson (Sydney) in April 1797. It reaches 5 m (16 ft) in height and has dark grey papery bark and bright green asymmetrical sickle-shaped leaves up to 14 cm (5.5 in) long and 8 cm (3.2 in) wide. The small yellow flowers appear in summer and autumn (December to April), followed by small green fleshy fruit known as drupes. The fruit is juicy but stringy when unripe, and the seeds and skin are inedible. Found in dry sclerophyll forest on sandstone-based nutrient-deficient soils, P. levis is adapted to a fire-prone environment; the plants resprout epicormic buds from beneath their thick bark after bushfires, and can live for over 60 years. Regeneration also takes place after fire by a ground-stored seed bank. The longtongue bee Leioproctus carinatifrons is a pollinator of the flowers, and the fruit are consumed by vertebrates such as kangaroos, possums and currawongs. Despite its horticultural appeal, P. levis is rare in cultivation as it is very hard to propagate, either by seed or cuttings. (Full article...)

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In the news

Two bomb blasts in Hyderabad, India, kill at least 17 people and injure more than 100 others.

NASA announces the discovery of Kepler-37b, the smallest exoplanet detected to date.

Masked gunmen steal US$50 million in diamonds from an aircraft at Brussels Airport in Belgium.

Serzh Sargsyan is re-elected President of Armenia.

The Women's Cricket World Cup concludes with Australia defeating the West Indies in the final.

Rafael Correa is re-elected President of Ecuador.

Recent deaths: Jerry Buss – Richard Briers

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On this day...

February 24: Purim ends at sundown (Judaism, 2013); Independence Day in Estonia (1918); Flag Day in Mexico; National Artist Day in Thailand

1711 – George Frideric Handel's Rinaldo, the first Italian language opera written specifically for the London stage, premiered.

1803 – The U.S. Supreme Court, in Marbury v. Madison, declared an act of Congress unconstitutional for the first time, forming the basis of judicial review in the U.S.

1868 – Andrew Johnson (pictured) became the first U.S. President to be impeached.

1944 – World War II: The United States Army long-range penetration special operations unit known as Merrill's Marauders began a 1000-mile (1600 km) march over the Patkai region of the Himalayas and into the Burmese jungle behind Japanese lines.

2006 – Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared a state of emergency in an attempt to subdue a possible military coup.

More anniversaries: February 23 – February 24 – February 25

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It is now February 24, 2013 (UTC) – Reload this page

Today's featured picture

A Raja Shelduck (Tadorna radjah) at Centenary Lakes in Cairns, Australia. The Raja Shelduck prefers the brackish waters of mangrove flats and paperbark tree swamps, but will live elsewhere during the wet season. It feeds mainly on mollusks, insects, sedge materials and algae.

Photograph: JJ Harrison

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