“Horst Ludwig Wessel (October 9, 1907 – February 23, 1930) was a German Nazi activist who was made a posthumous hero of the Nazi movement following his violent death in 1930. He was the author of the lyrics to the song “Die Fahne hoch” (“The Flag On High”), usually known as Horst-Wessel-Lied (“The Horst Wessel Song”), which became the Nazi Party anthem and, de facto, Germany's co-national anthem from 1933 to 1945”. – Wikipedia

Photo: German Nazi activist Horst Wessel (left) at the head of a parade of S.A. stormtroopers, or “brownshirts”, in Nuremberg, Germany, 1929. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Racing driver J. Gaal at the wheel of car number 26 at the RAC Tourist Trophy, run, for the first time, over the Four Inch Course on the Isle of Man, 17th September 1908. Gaal is racing in waterproofs. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A horse-drawn cart passing through a section cut out of the base of a giant sequoia tree in the Mariposa groves of Yosemite Park, California. (Photo by Carleton E Watkins/Getty Images). 1870

In this September 10, 1977, file photo, from left, Hua Guofeng, Chinese Communist Party (CCP) chairman and Mao Zedong's immediate successor; Ye Jianying, CCP vice chairman and future ceremonial head of state; Deng Xiaoping, no formal titles at the time but soon to emerge as paramount leader during the reform era; Li Xiannian, CCP vice chairman and future president; Wang Dongxing, head of the leadership bodyguard unit who helped topple the Gang of Four, view the body of later Chinese leader Mao Zedong in Beijing. (Photo via AP Photo)

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.

“The Siege of Sidney Street, popularly known as the “Battle of Stepney”, was a notorious gunfight in London's East End on the 2nd of January 1911. Preceded by the Houndsditch Murders, it ended with the deaths of two members of a supposedly politically-motivated gang of burglars supposedly led by Peter Piatkow, a.k.a. “Peter the Painter”, and sparked a major political row over the involvement of the then Home Secretary, Winston Churchill”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Scots Guards and police on duty during the “Siege of Sidney Street” in east London. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images). 3rd January 1911

This picture was taken in the 1890's and shows a group of loggers hauling a heavy load. It is hard to even picture how they got the logs stacked that high. It is also hard to imagine how they keep it from tipping over.

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.