Finia, a visiting student from Hanover, cools off under a water sprinkler in front of the Chancellery on June 10, 2010 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

A polar bear fast asleep at London Zoo. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images). 1961

Two children jumping through a water hydrant's shower on a New York street. They have come from a neighbouring co-educational playgroup organised by the city's Police Department. (Photo by Orlando/Getty Images). 1950

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.

A high temperature alerts were issued as a record-setting summer heat wave continued to bake most parts of south China. (Reuters)

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.

Julian, left, is photographed by his mother with friend Gianluca, right, under water at a public pool in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, on a hot Friday, July 3, 2015. Germany faces a heat wave with temperatures up to 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) at the weekend. (Photo by Martin Meissner/AP Photo)

From the waters edge a New York policeman urges two young children to put their bathing costumes back on. (Photo by Ed Clarity/Keystone/Getty Images). July 1949