American actress Raquel Welch on a balcony overlooking a street in London, 1970. (Photo by Evening Standard). P.S. All pictures are presented in high resolution.

Two women lighting cigarettes on a tennis court in Essex, England circa 1930's. (Photo by Keystone View/FPG/Getty Images)

Two elderly men smoking pipes of opium on a terrace in Korea. (Photo by Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images). August 1950

Harris & Ewing Inc. photographed people, events, and architecture, particularly in Washington, D.C., during the period 1905-1945. Photo: Tests of Curtiss Palne for Army, Single Control. Created by Harris & Ewing. Published in 1912.

With temperatures soaring and summer well underway, countless Americans will be spending their Independence Day weekend at the beach. Here we revisit some classic images from the turn-of-the-century to the 1930's of vacations by the sea, from Coney Island to Santa Monica.

An elephant from Earl's Court Circus with a man in its mouth, 1928. P.S. All pictures are presented in high resolution.

Peasants in the re-taken Somme District work in the fields, circa 1916- 1917, in this Library of Congress handout photo. For women 100 years ago, opportunities to work beyond the home and take part in political life were very limited. As the 20th century progressed, hard-won progress included gradually improved voting rights, while the upheaval of war pushed doors ajar as women worked as part of the war effort. U.S. Library of Congress archive photos show women's workplaces ranging from a flour mill in England to a coal mine in Belgium or Lincoln Motor Co.'s welding department in Detroit. International Women's Day is celebrated on March 8. (Photo by Reuters/Bain Collection/Library of Congress)