BORN ON THIS DAY

MARY SHELLEY (17971851). The author of frankenstein and creator of his monster (pictured) was the daughter of writer Mary Wollstonecraft (who died 11 days after the birth). Her father taught her to read by tracing letters on her mother’s gravestone with her finger. A year after her death, her husband’s heart was found in her desk wrapped in the pages of one of his poems. She is said to have carried it everywhere in a silk shroud.

DENIS HEALEY (1917-2015). The former Labour deputy leader and Chancellor was known for his flirtatious nature. in an interview with a female journalist three years before his death, he suggested going skinnydipping in his pool, said he must look at her bottom and ended the encounter by declaring: ‘Now take your knickers off.’