A miniature model of Chichen Itza in Mexico, part of Gulliver's Gate, a miniature world being recreated in a 49,000-square-foot exhibit space in Times Square, is seen during a preview April 10, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Timothy A. Clary/AFP Photo)

Ivanka Trump poses with Kristina Hilko, Lauren Shovlin, and Anna Nesbitt, members of the Girls of Steel Robotics initiative, at the Astrobotic Technology facility in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on August 14, 2018. (Photo by Jason Cohn/Reuters)

Volunteers use flour to clean birds following an oil spill caused by an incident involving two tankers damaged in a storm in the Kerch Strait, in the village of Vityazevo near the Black Sea resort of Anapa, Russia on December 20, 2024. (Photo by Sergey Pivovarov/Reuters)

A woman jumps over a fire during the celebration of the summer solstice at a festival in the village of Okunevo in Omsk region, Russia on June 22, 2025. (Photo by Alexey Malgavko/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.

Snorkellers approach an adult manatee at Three Sisters Spring, Crystal River, Florida. You might imagine that coming face to face with one of these enormous underwater mammals would cause some concern. However, the likelihood is that the rotund creature just wants you to scratch its belly while it floats around happily, as world-renowned underwater photographer Alex Mustard discovered. (Photo by Alexander Mustard/Barcroft Media)

Tourists kissing front of Malaysia's landmark Petronas Twin Towers with lights on before turned off to mark Earth Hour 2016 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 19 March 2016. Earth Hour takes place worldwide at 8.30 p.m. local time and is a global call to turn off lights for 60 minutes to raise awareness of the danger of global climatic change (Photo by Fazry Ismail/EPA)

A woman affected by tear gas is assisted during a May Day protest against austerity measures, in San Juan, Puerto Rico May 1, 2018. (Photo by Alvin Baez/Reuters)