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.
After Leigh Hancock, 36, joined Fallon Bramall's boxing gym she owned with her husband, the pair took him under their wing .
An amputee who was cruelly nicknamed 'peg-leg' by school bullies has conquered her insecurities to become a model .
A talented 16st pole dancer who was once dubbed a 'disgusting human form' by online trolls is fighting back to show her bullies that big is beautiful .
A little caterpillar fearlessly scampers down a branch and confronts a praying mantis .
Raising his arms above his head and lying flat on his back, a polar bear stretches as he sprawls out across the ice .
A luxury caravan with a price tag of ONE MILLION DOLLARS is due to hit the road later this year .
SAILING over crystal clear waters, the Bajau people of Malaysia live their lives almost entirely at SEA .
A woman with a rare condition that means she collapses every time she laughs fears she may have passed the rare illness onto her young son .
Ever wished you could live in a house just like Barbie's? Canadian sculptor Heather Benning has created the life-size dollhouse of her dreams out a derelict building .
Swirling water and sand create amazing aerial images of river deltas across Iceland .