Buried in snow: An extremely heavy snowfall in Bryneglwys, near Wrexham in Wales, held a family of four in its grip for several days. Farmer Ben Massam could not believe the amount of snow that buried his farm and kept him, his wife and his young child and a baby from going anywhere. Drifts were 10 feet (three meters) high and the hydro power was cut off. Eventually, the family burned furniture in the fireplace to keep warm. Although uninjured, Massam started to get concerned about his family’s safety, so he called for a rescue. A Royal Air Force helicopter came to airlift them to the nearest medical facility. Luckily, they were all fine after their long ordeal.

Amazing beard: Usually, Elmar Weisser of Germany wears his waist-length beard long unless, that is, he is competing in the World Beard and Moustache Championship. In that case, his sister helps him to style his beard into winning creations. During the competition in Norway, Weisser won the title of Best Beard and it’s no wonder, for he and his sister managed to craft a Norwegian flag on one side and a miniature moose on the other side. In past contests he has also come away a winner. For example, when the competition was in England, his beard resembled the Tower Bridge.

Unscheduled birth: An intern at a hospital in Saskatchewan, Canada, put her knowledge to use during a trans-Atlantic flight between Holland and Canada. When Erin Sullivan heard the call on the overhead speaker asking for a doctor, she responded to discover a woman in labour in the plane’s washroom. The crew moved people out of the first-class section, which then became a delivery room. With the help of another physician and three nurses who happened to be onboard, Sullivan delivered a healthy baby boy. Needless to say, the plane made an unscheduled stop in a northern Canadian city for the new mom and child.

Horse stall: Brisbane is a large city on Australia’s east coast, and the types of transportation used there include the usual cars, trucks, buses, bicycles and the like. Therefore, it seemed a little strange to find a horse “parked” in the lot of a local pub on the west side of the city. It turns out that the owner of the horse is a woman who is a regular customer at the pub. The woman ties her horse to a post and positions the animal between the two white lines of a parking spot. At first, the owner of the establishment was a little puzzled and wasn’t sure what to do about it, but he claims that the horse is gentle, so decided not to worry about it.