She was the 18th century celebrity who made men faint in awe of her beauty by her very presence. But her beauty - and her vanity - led to her demise as the lead-based make-up she insisted on plastering on daily resulted first in the loss of her looks, then deadly blood poisoning. Now the grand 7ft mirror in which Maria Gunning, the former Countess of Coventry, admired her stunning reflection has been auctioned off for more than £300,000. Labelled the first victim of vanity, Maria died aged 27 in 1760 after her love of make-up resulted in her untimely death. The 253-year-old mirror sold well above its estimate even though her condition meant she the society hostess used it for a matter of just months. A glorious George II giltwood overmantel design, it was bought for her by her husband The Sixth Earl of Coventry in 1759, who is said to have been so frustrated by his wife's love of make up that he would chase her around the dinner table with a handkerchief, trying wipe it from her face.
This frozen lighthouse in Michigan could easily be mistaken for a still from the snow swept disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow .
At first glance it might look like someone has taken their revenge on the makers of those infuriating insurance ads .
This was the chaotic scene when the driver of a 4x4 vehicle became periously trapped under his vehicle for an HOUR when it overturned after a crash on a busy motorway .
A deranged dad beat his girlfriend so savagely in a vicious 30 minute attack that the indent of his sovereign ring was left on her face .
EAGERLY BITING his nails, this little squirrel is clearly nervous of looming predators as he searches for his meal .
AFTER splashing out on sexy black lingerie, Paige Way was excited for a romantic night away at a swanky hotel with her boyfriend .
This daredevil wildebeest tried a walk on the wild side - straight into the snatches of a huge 18 foot crocodile .
Gabrielle Dale, 26, was subjected to seven years of coercive control and physical abuse at the hands of her violent boyfriend Sean Owen, 29 .
Lauren Kilgariff, 29, was with husband, Shaun, 31, for four years .
When Janet Curry, 38, was told she was ‘too big to date’ by a man she met on the dating website Plenty of Fish, she didn’t let it stop her from looking for love .
WITH the phosphorescent blobs and mesmerising patterns, these spectacular images may look like the hall marks of an enchanted forest but it is in fact the scene of thousands of dancing FIREFLIES .