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.
A woman has spoken of her heartbreak after she was rejected by an adoption agency because of her pregnancy phobia .
AT first glance these images could easily be mistaken for photographs, but they are in-fact real life drawings created using nothing but coloured pencils .
THIS is the moment one irritated pelican nearly swallows the entire head of his unlucky competitor .
A Brit photographer has captured one of the world's most camera-shy species of fish - during a game of underwater peek-a-boo .
THE THOUGHT OF BECOMING shipwrecked on a remote destination would fill most holidaymakers with dread .
The UK's first hotline - and possibly the galaxy's - for people who have been targeted by aliens has opened to the public .
THIS is the EXPLOSIVE moment when a 50 metre high pylon came crashing down to earth in a rural field .
A PENSIONER was left with a fractured jaw after being beaten and robbed outside his home in Birmingham last weekend .
A WIMBLEDON-mad couple will be creating a racket this summer - after installing a TENNIS COURT in their living room .
A baby girl has become the youngest British patient to receive a life-saving cardiac operation after her heart swelled to twice its normal size within days of her birth .
Pictures of John Anslow a prisoner who escaped from a prison escort van in North Worcestershire Monday, 23 January .
A terrifying prankster has given unsuspecting urban explorers the fright of their lives .