The Universal Spider and Frankensteins's creator

I know we’re all thinking of those struggling with the flooding caused by Hurricane Isaac in New Orleans and the Gulf states. Some of those who lost their homes in Plaquemines Parish lost their homes, too, in Hurricane Katrina. It is a relief, though, that this time people in need of rescue were allowed to take their pets, a lesson learned from Katrina, where some died rather than abandon their animals.
A really slow history day again. On August 30th, 1183, the French king, Louis XI, died. Louis was known as the Universal Spider, justifiably so. He was fun to write about in Sunne, though. Writers usually like writing about characters with some dark corners in their souls. At least I do. Louis was crafty and conniving and ruthless, but he did strengthen the French monarchy. And he liked dogs!
Since Louis’s unlamented demise is the only medieval event for the day, I had to move a little farther afield. Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin was born on this date in 1797. Mary created a great scandal at age 17 by running away with the married poet, Percy Shelley, and getting pregnant. She and Shelley would marry after his wife committed suicide in 1816. It was during the summer of that year that she conceived the idea for her best known novel, Frankenstein. She was widowed at 25 when Shelley drowned when he was caught in storm off the Italian coast, and she never married again. She died in 1851 of what is believed to be a brain tumor. After her death, her own accomplishments were overshadowed for a time by her relationship with Shelley, but she was a very interesting woman in her own right, and a strong one, too, for she had to deal with considerable tragedy, poverty, and ill health in the last decade of her life. Although Frankenstein is her most famous novel, she wrote five others, one of which was The Fortunes of Perkin Warbeck; I am happy to report that she was more sympathetic to Richard than to Henry Tudor. 
And I also want to mention that Melbourne, Australia was founded on this date in 1836, since my friend Paula attended the U. of Melbourne.