Esau the ape at the piano. (Photo by Reinhold Thiele/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images). Circa 1900

Infantrymen of the US First Army shake hands with Russian soldiers on the broken bridge over the Elbe after the link-up at Torgau, Germany. The US soldiers are (L-R): Pfc. John A Metzger, Delbert E Philpott, and Pvt. Thomas B Summers; all are from A Company, 271st Regiment. (Photo by Allan Jackson/Getty Images). 04-1945

Residents of the Korean port of Inchon surrender to American troops. (Photo by Bert Hardy/Getty Images). 1950

Egyptian bootblacks cleaning a European's shoes in Cairo. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images). Circa 1870

A member of the German wireless police picks up signals on the radio equipment he carries on his back, while his colleague takes notes. (Photo by General Photographic Agency/Getty Images). Circa 1925

A Mark IV tank, part of the parade at the Lord Mayor's Show in London. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images). November 1917

A workman takes a siesta on a girder during the building of Radio City, the city of New York spread out below. (Photo by General Photographic Agency/Getty Images). Circa 1933

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.