Harold Edward Holt was Australian Prime Minister between January 1966 and December 1967. Like many a politician before him, his time in office was cut short by premature death. In Holt's case, however, it wasn't heart trouble that saw him shuffle off his mortal coil a few overs too early. No, depending upon who you believe, Harold Holt might be the only national leader to have been devoured by a shark.

A lifelong parliamentarian - he became an MP aged just 27 - Harold Holt fancied himself the face of the new, young, exciting Australia. In his late fifties at the time he took over from retiring PM Robert Menzies, Holt carried on like an aging James Bond, spending hours swimming and snorkeling, and surrounding himself with bevvies of young women, much to the amusement of his long-suffering wife Zara. He also struck up a close friendship with Lyndon Johnson which made him well-liked on the other side of the Pacific but far from popular at home. Not that Harold seemed to care - who could be bothered what Joe Public had to say when the women were so supple, the sun was so strong and the water was so warm?