While the lido was described as bringing “modernism to the masses” on the British coast it was just the latest example of a trend that had been developing since Victorian times – transforming seaside towns into resorts for leisure and entertainment. In the latter half of the nineteenth century, the fashion was for local authorities to build great piers stretching from the promenade out into the sea. The Eastbourne Pier, pictured here in May 1931, was erected between 1866 and 1870 to an ingenious design by Eugenius Birch, which saw the structure sitting on special cups allowing the supporting struts to “move” in bad weather. Arranged on the pier's 1,000-foot length were kiosks, a theatre, a ballroom and a camera obscura. 1931. (Photo by Aerofilms Collection via “A History of Britain From Above”)

A greater bird of paradise (Paradisaea apoda) displaying in Badigaki Forest, Wokam Island (Aru Islands, Indonesia). Found here in Aru and on adjacent New Guinea, the greater bird of paradise represents about 40 different species of birds of paradise that depend on intact rainforest across the New Guinea region spanning eastern Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. With more than 80% of forest cover still intact, this region represents the largest remaining block of rainforest in the entire Asia-Pacific. (Photo by Tim Laman/naturepl.com/LDY Agency)

A Ukrainian serviceman wearing a new year's hat waves at his comrades while standing beside his tank near Debaltseve, eastern Ukraine, February 8, 2015. (Photo by Gleb Garanich/Reuters)

Smoke rises during an explosion from an Israeli forces strike in Gaza City, Saturday, November 17, 2012. Israel bombarded the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip with nearly 200 airstrikes early Saturday, the military said, widening a blistering assault on Gaza rocket operations by militants to include the prime minister's headquarters, a police compound and a vast network of smuggling tunnels. (Photo Hatem Moussa/AP Photo)

A topless woman walks through Bryant Park following the protest march called the GoTopless Day Parade Sunday, August 23, 2015, in New York. The parade took to the streets to counter critics who are complaining about topless tip-seekers in Times Square. Appearing bare-breasted is legal in New York. But Mayor Bill de Blasio and police Commissioner Bill Bratton say the body-painted women in the square who take photos with tourists are a nuisance. (Photo by Kevin Hagen/AP Photo)

21 year-old Chanel Tapper, with the amazing tongue and 35 year-old Aevin Dugas, with the beautiful hair was certified as world record breakers for the world’s longest tongue and the world’s biggest afro in the Guinness Book of World Records. (Photo by Guinness World Records)

Filipino typhoon survivor children, who escaped after their village was attacked by allegedly armed men, wait for social workers in the super typhoon devastated city of Tacloban, Leyte province, Philippines, 13 November 2013. Aid workers and relief supplies were being poured into eastern provinces hit by Typhoon Haiyan, which aid agencies and officials estimated has left thousands dead and staggering destruction in its wake. The official death toll in the Philippines from one of the world’s strongest typhoons rose to 1,833, the national disaster relief agency said with many towns still unaccounted for. (Photo by Dennis M. Sabangan/EPA)

Lightning strikes the Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) in downtown on June 12, 2013 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)