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.
USUALLY full to bursting, these London Underground stations stand silent and completely commuter free .
A teacher has told how she was attacked by a murderer on her way home from a night out but courageously managed to charm him out of strangling her .
A young otter wades through a lake with his eyes set on an older rival’s fish .
From vivid greens to glowing pinks, the colours of the aurora borealis fill the night sky above a snow covered Lapland .
A woman has released pictures of the horrific injuries she suffered when her jealous ex attacked her with a brick .
A mother-to be has told how she cannot go near an iPad in case she suffers another miscarriage due to her intense sensitivity to electromagnetic waves .
Two people have been arrested after a man and woman were shot dead at a house in the Midlands in the early hours of this morning .
TWIN SISTERS from Australia have taken their sisterly bond to the extreme by spending £150,000 to look IDENTICAL .
ALL IS not as it seems in these deceptive cityscapes .
This starling and prairie dog will not back down an inch as they have a fearsome stand-off over who gets to eat a nut .
AN EXERCISING turtle and an ice-skating chick are hardly everyday exploits in the animal community .
COULD this be the most distastrous wedding cake fail EVER? Most brides opt for a traditional tiered white wedding cake decorated with delicate pink roses and lace for their big day .