A reveller gets ready to dance during a "pow-wow" celebrating the Indigenous Peoples Day Festival in Randalls Island, New York, October 11, 2015. The festival is held as a counter-celebration to Columbus Day and is to promote Native American culture and history. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)

A set of pictures taken by Kellie Netherwood on the northern-most island located in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland perfectly captures the spirit of the Scots: wild, free, and majestic. It is no wonder that Scottish people fought tooth and nail to gain their independence all throughout their history. The green fields, rocky hills, and the beautiful waterfalls all sing to the spirits of the Scots, instilling pride into everyone who considers this place to be their motherland. However, no matter what your origin may be, you cannot help being fascinated by the beauty of these landscapes, drawn to them as if by a powerful force. (Photo by Kellie Netherwood)

A Puffing Billy steam train hauled by locomotive 14A crosses the Monbulk Creek trestle after leaving Belgrave station near Melbourne, October 20, 2014. While the discovery of steam power 200 years ago powered the Industrial Revolution, the world long ago shunted most steam trains onto the sidings of history. (Photo by Jason Reed/Reuters)

“The Chernobyl disaster was a catastrophic nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukrainian SSR, which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities in Moscow. An explosion and fire released large quantities of radioactive contamination into the atmosphere, which spread over much of Western USSR and Europe. It is widely considered to have been the worst nuclear power plant accident in history, and is one of only two classified as a level 7 event on the International Nuclear Event Scale (the other being the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster)”. – Wikipedia (Photos by Alexandr Strannik, August 1986; Source: LiveJournal)

“A skydiver has made history by smashing the world record for the highest skydive after leaping from 128,097ft (39,044m). Daredevil Felix Baumgartner ascended to the edge of space in a pressurised capsule suspended beneath a giant helium balloon. He then jumped out, freefalling for four minutes and 19 seconds before opening his parachute”.

Photo: Baumgartner celebrates after successfully completing the jump. (Photo by Balazs Gardi/Red Bull Stratos)

Capturing the true essence of Christmas, Lapland is the perfect place to take your family for the holiday period. Situated in the arctic regions of northern Sweden, Finland and Norway, there are a villages in each country around where you can enjoy the full festive experience.

The quokka the only member of the genus Setonix, is a small macropod about the size of a domestic cat. Like other marsupials in the macropod family (such as the kangaroos and wallabies), the quokka is herbivorous and mainly nocturnal.