Humanoid robot bartender “Carl” interacts with guests at the Robots Bar and Lounge in the eastern German town of Ilmenau, July 26, 2013. “Carl”, developed and built by mechatronics engineer Ben Schaefer who runs a company for humanoid robots, prepares spirits for the mixing of cocktails and is able to interact with customers in small conversations. (Photo by Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters)

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”)

Soldiers take part in a drill during a heavy snow in Heihe, Heilongjiang province, February 26, 2014. (Photo by Reuters/China Daily)

In this Wednesday, January 23, 2019, an anti-government protester covers her face with a Venezuelan flag, and uses toothpaste around her eyes to help lessen the effect of tear gas, during clashes with security forces after a rally demanding the resignation of President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela. The head of Venezuela's opposition-run congress declared himself interim president at the rally, until new elections can be called. (Photo by Fernando Llano/AP Photo)

A delegate dressed in a furry Lion costume walks across a Zebra crossing to the convention centre at the Eurofurence convention in Berlin on August 17, 2017. Some 2700 delegates are taking part in the 3-day-long Eurofurence in the German capital, the worlds oldest active Furry-convention for people dressing up in furry costumes. (Photo by Odd Andersen/AFP Photo)

Model Joanna Krupa poses during a protest against animals in circuses, in front of the Houses of Parliament in London, Britain, September 11, 2017. (Photo by Hannah McKay/Reuters)

Members of the Baby Dolls, a traditional Mardi Gras social club, dance during a second line parade honoring music legend Fats Domino, in New Orleans, Wednesday, November 1, 2017. The thousand-strong group marched and danced from Vaughn's Lounge to Domino's former home in the Lower 9th Ward. Domino, a New Orleans native, died this past week. (Photo by Gerald Herbert/AP Photo)

Antonina Yermokhina, 86, does physical exercises during her daily training session on the embankment of the Yenisei River in the Siberian town of Divnogorsk, Russia November 13, 2017. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)